In a hyper-connected world full of consumption, how do we make the best choices when purchasing products? How do we determine the impact of our decisions based on our values? Now more than ever, we are faced with businesses greenwashing customers, and as a result, consumers have become detached from where things come from or how they have come to be. Terms like “natural” or “therapeutic” are used with reckless abandon and we are given minimal information to make the best choices for our bodies and our planet.
At Mountain Rose Herbs, we believe transparency is a critical component of ethical business practices and helps the herbal community make better choices that align with their morals and values. It cultivates a sense of trust and accountability, which are keys to maintaining strong relationships in business and beyond. This is why we are proud to announce a new method of measuring the impact of our products. Each botanical we carry will now come with a sustainability rating, which is an honest score of the footprint of that specific product. The rating will consider the source of the plant, how it's grown, its certifications, the transportation distance, and the product life cycle—in other words, the transparency needed for customers to make more informed decisions.
The scoring matrix for the Sustainability Rating is based on a scale of 1-100 points, with 100 being the best possible score. An example of a 100-scoring product would be a Certified Organic, Fair Trade/Fair Wild botanical grown within our region and handled within our Zero-Waste Certified facilities by Mountain Rose Herbs’ For Life-certified staff. On the other hand, an example of a 1-scoring product would be a conventionally grown botanical that comes from across the world and is grown, produced, and procured in negatively impactful ways to the environment and the people who handle it.
*If there are several countries we supply an ingredient from, the rating will reflect the furthest.
For example, organic nettle leaf can be sourced from Italy (5,794 miles away) with a sustainability rating of 56 points. Or we can procure organic nettle leaf locally from Washington State with a sustainability rating of 90 points. By choosing to purchase nettle leaf domestically, we can lower carbon emissions, support the local economy, and more frequently visit our farm partners to nurture long-lasting relationships with them. While domestically grown crops are generally more expensive than imported ones, this is partly due to the fair wages hard-working farmers earn for bringing us our favorite herbs and spices—a cost we are happy to pay to support organic agriculture in the United States.
In 2024 and beyond, we are increasing our domestically sourced offerings and aim to improve the sustainability ratings of our herbs and spices when possible. There are, of course, botanicals that require specific growing conditions that we cannot provide at scale here in the United States (turmeric, cinnamon, cacao). We are actively seeking other options that can be grown here at a commercial level. In addition to continuing our Seed Stewardship Program with United Plant Savers, we will be working with Rodale Institute to support farmers in obtaining the training needed to become Regenerative Organic Certified. We are also working with Appalachian Sustainable Development to provide scholarships to wild harvesters to learn about sustainable harvesting through their Point of Harvest program.
Botanical procurement is just one example of the impactful choices we face each day, and at Mountain Rose Herbs, sustainability always remains our corporate compass. From becoming the first Zero Waste Certified business in Oregon to winning the top 100 Best Green Companies to Work For, it’s no secret that sustainability drives our mission forward. As the new Sustainability Communications Specialist for Mountain Rose Herbs, I’m honored to take on the responsibility and always look for new and improved ways of bringing sustainability to the workplace. A large part of my new role is to share our efforts and communicate the areas needing improvement. If we truly want to live in a sustainable world, transparency is key, and our new Sustainability Rating system is a large leap in the right direction.
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