What Sustainability Means To Us...
Our Mantra
At Kashi, we dream of a world where everyone embraces natural health. We are passionate and committed to improving the health of people and our planet.
Health isn’t a destination; it’s a journey. Every little step we take creates a healthier path forward. We believe that when we eat well, we feel well, and do well for ourselves, our families, our coworkers, our communities, and the world. This philosophy builds on our deep roots in natural foods since 1984 and remains our daily guiding light.
We are constantly evaluating and improving the environmental and social aspects of our ingredient sourcing, product production, packaging, and distribution. We strive to not only minimize our impacts across our value chain, but to create positive impacts and positive change with everything we do, creating a legacy of sustainability and health.
Simply put, we strive to improve the health of people and planet every place we do business.
Project SpArK
You have to start somewhere, and when it comes to sustainability, starting at home is a good bet. And that’s how it started for us. While we’ve always been passionate about natural health at Kashi, how this relates to the environment was always kind of “a given” but never fully articulated.
We began to have hallway chats and shared musings over breakfast, and this led to making small changes in how we did things at the office. We implemented a recycling program (which relieved employees from taking home recyclables). We did away with plastic bags in the garbage cans, and set up a composter in our kitchen. We swapped out hand soap and lotion for our favorite natural brands, brought in fair trade, organic coffee and stocked up on mugs and glassware. Bottled water service was replaced with reverse osmosis machines, and we switched our office product supplier to a greener alternative. One thing led to another and our little sparks of ingenuity began to add up. Because we love acronyms as well as double entendres, we named our efforts Project SpArK — Sustaining the Planet And Retaining Kashiness.
As the excitement built around these positive changes, we realized how necessary it was to extend our viewpoint beyond the office. Our products, our packaging, our programs…everything we did as a company should be considered. Only then did we realize how much we were already doing...
Our Products and Packaging
We design our foods to not only be tasty, but also provide the best all natural ingredients for good health. In doing so, we try to source our ingredients domestically whenever possible. No matter where our ingredients are grown, Kashi ensures that all of our suppliers meet stringent quality and food safety requirements.
All of the paperboard we source is made from 100% recycled sources, with a minimum of 35% post—consumer content, and is recyclable. Because we are constantly trying to make packaging improvements, our new Kashi U cereal is packaged in a carton that is printed with soy ink and contains 80% post—consumer content.
Click here to read more.
Our Programs
The Three R’s have led us to work internally on our products and collaborate with other like—minded companies on our journey to sustainability.
REDUCE
Clearly the best package is no package, but admittedly, packaging protects our foods. The next best thing is to reduce the amount of packaging used — something that we are conscious of with every new and existing product. Click here to see what we’ve done recently with several of our snacks.
REUSE
Whenever a product can be put to use again before its disposal, it’s a beautiful thing. That’s why we entered a partnership with TerraCycle™, an eco-friendly innovative company that specializes in “upcycling” repurposed packaging into unique products such as tote bags, notebooks, and much more.
How it works: Brigades across the country collect their used Kashi packaging from friends, family and coworkers and then send to TerraCycle. Terracycle repurposes cereal cartons, liners, and bar wrappers into cool upcycled products and also makes a monetary contribution to the charity of the Brigade’s choice — we think it’s a win-win proposition!
So far this year, Kashi brigades from all over the country have sent 202 lbs of used Kashi packaging to TerraCycle for upcycling.* Click here for more information on joining a free Kashi brigade.
RECYCLE
Did you know the U.S. recycles only 32% of all trash?** That’s why we think it’s important to encourage people to recycle and reward those who do. This year we partnered with RecycleBank® to make it happen.
Right now, for every specially marked Kashi® Whole Wheat Biscuits cereal box you recycle, you can earn 15 RecycleBank Points!
Click here to see if RecycleBank is available in your area and sign up for the RecycleBank eNewsletter.
How it works: As a member of the RecycleBank community, the more you recycle, the more RecycleBank Points you gain. Points are redeemable for valuable Kashi rewards that are exclusive to RecycleBank members.
So far this year, our partnership with RecycleBank has helped keep 251 tons of material out of our nation’s landfills!* Congratulations, RecycleBankers!
* Updated June 30 2009
** U.S. EPA 2005, MSW Recovery Data
Stay Tuned...
Like many things in life, sustainability is a journey, not a destination. At Kashi, we are continually evaluating and improving the way we bring our foods to life. Check back regularly for updates on our progress!