Colgate-Palmolive is a company dedicated to environmental sustainability.
One environmental sustainability aim in their recent sustainability report is to reduce their waste sent to landfill sites by 15% by the year 2015. And by their achievements in the previous years, they might very well meet this goal.
According to Colgate-Palmolive’s 2011 sustainability report, the company has reduced their greenhouse gas emissions by 7.8% and water use by 34.6%, for the period 2002 – 2010. These reductions were well above the set target, giving credibility to their landfill rate reduction targets.
How will Colgate-Palmolive’s waste reduction target contribute to environmental sustainability? In its conventional form, and if not subject to strict environmental monitoring, landfilling of waste is a source of significant environmental impact. Water pollution (surface water and groundwater), atmospheric emissions, soil contamination, as well as health and social hazards are some of the impacts associated with landfill sites (for more detail follow this series). Waste landfilled equals not only a loss of potential resources, but also economic losses. Material discarded as waste has no economic value; in contrast, sustainable management of waste and reduction of waste landfilling, bring back a positive economic value for the waste material.
Colgate-Palmolive is not only striving to prevent cavities, but also preventing the filling of the Earth’s cavities with waste. Striving for a cleaner, healthier environment! Well done Colgate-Palmolive, for putting your money where your teeth is!
Photo credits: some rights reserved by leighadactyl via flickr.
Word from the Savanna 