Let’s face it—no business should be focused solely on the bottom line without considering how its actions are affecting the Earth. It’s encouraging to see so many customers demanding greener thinking from the businesses they buy from, and we love when our fans ask what we’re doing to be part of the climate change conversation. So, here’s a little overview.

While “going green” has become the trend in recent years, Baudelaire has embraced a green attitude from the start (30+ years ago) in many small but impactful ways. For instance, we have always collected and re-used those pesky packing “peanuts” before they land in the landfill. They’re a prime example of something that can serve its purpose again and again without ending up as waste.

Though we rarely see a peanut these days (Yay!), we still gather up packing materials from a group of local businesses and reuse that material to pack out our orders. We figure we have reused several football stadiums worth of material over the last 30 years.

We also insist that all our suppliers use PET bottles because they are the easiest to recycle, don’t leach, and use less energy to produce and ship. The rest of our packaging and marketing materials are also completely recyclable, and we typically print on recycled papers.

This kind of thinking happens behind the scenes each time we choose to partner with other craftsmen, as well. An example? We are the sole U.S. distributors of the organic, aromatherapy formulated Acorelle perfume. In their 100% solar-powered facility located in France, Acorelle creates an elegant and affordable personal fragrance line in response to rising concerns about the negative impacts of synthetic fragrances.

We were first on the scene to recognize that our U.S. customers would welcome these unique, earth-friendly - and people friendly - products. We’re always on the lookout for like-minded businesses when it comes to collaboration.

Baudelaire also went solar nearly five years ago. Solar panels installed by our facility’s landlord generate more than enough electricity to power the little industrial park we’re proud to be a part of.

It’s our aim to keep our local community as clean and green as possible by engaging in thoughtful business practices that avoid needless waste. We hope our approach and that of other environmentally-conscious businesses will lead to greater change around the globe.

In the meantime, we’re thankful that each of these practices, however small, also makes Baudelaire a better, more positive, more vibrant, and more satisfying place to work.