Ada-tudes | Amway

By: Steve Lieberman

In 1959 when Amway started, we weren’t just trying to make a profit by following the environmental consciousness trend. Truth is, hardly anyone talked about the environment back then!

We just thought it made good business sense to offer our customers earth-sensitive products.

Today, it still makes sense. As a result, Amway’s “green” mission is now a huge part of our everyday business life.

– The unique formulas of our environmentally-sensitive, powerful, super-concentrated cleaning products result in less packaging ending up in landfills and less energy being used in manufacturing.

– We’re actively seeking out renewable sources instead of fossil fuels to power our facilities, including using wind power for our World Headquarters facilities.

– Our wildlife habitat program enhances the quality of life for the flora and fauna that surrounds our Ada complex.

– Our Nutrilite farms in the U.S., Mexico, and Brazil are a testament to our respect for the environment, with sustainable farming practices in use every day, including the use of natural pest control and fertilizers.

– The “Lights Out” program makes more efficient use of cleaning manpower so that we can keep most lights off during non-business hours and significantly reduce our energy usage.

Our environmental policies have been recognized by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

In fact, we hold ISO certification for environmental management, meaning we demonstrated our system in Ada is effective in managing our significant environmental aspects such as air emissions, hazardous waste generation, waste water and storm water discharges. This certification is verified by a third-party audit annually.

Amway’s manufacturing facility in Guangzhou, China has attained ISO 140001 certification as well, as have our Nutrilite facilities in Buena Park, California.

In addition, Amway has been recognized for its environmental leadership by the Wildlife Habitat Council. And we’re proud members of the Michigan Business Pollution Prevention Partnership, the U.S. EPA Climate Leaders Partnership, the EPA Green Power Partnership, the Wildlife Habitat Council, and the West Michigan Sustainable Business Forum.

We’ve been at this idea of good environmental stewardship for a long time. The evidence is everywhere. We can see it whenever we look out the window. Work a production line. Harvest a crop of organically-grown plants. Skip printing that email. Carpool. Print greener publications. Or use one of the hundreds of recycling boxes around our facilities that resulted in our recycling more than 25 million pounds of material last year alone.

The Amway Global Positive Sprouts garden project in Buena Park, Calif. on June 26 had special meaning for NUTRILITE® President Dr. Sam Rehnborg. I’ll let him tell you why.

When my dad, NUTRILITE founder Carl Rehnborg, first started enjoying success from sales of NUTRILITE products, he and his wife (my mom), Edith, looked around the neighboring Buena Park area to see where they could make a meaningful contribution.

They started a club for kids to go after school and on weekends, to play and participate in wholesome activities. Eventually, that club became the Boys and Girls Club of Buena Park. My parents donated the building for the first club as well as its present location.

Fast forward many years. Today, we’re still very much involved with the Club here in our hometown. My daughter, Lisa, is president of the Board of Directors of the Boys and Girls Club here, and I’m on the endowment board.
When Lisa told me about the Positive Sprouts project, I couldn’t have been more excited. Here was the culmination of my dad’s work – about to take place at the very club he founded.

With Positive Sprouts, we’re giving kids a great lesson on the nutritional value of fruits and vegetables – it’s also a fun lesson, as they grow their own vegetables for salsa, pizza, and much more. Judging from the questions they asked as they planted, kids really wanted to understand where their food comes from, especially when they can see it growing right before their eyes.

There’s also a correlation between Positive Sprouts and our own organic farming practices here at NUTRILITE. With their own garden, the kids are learning some of the same practices my dad used on the original NUTRILITE farms – still very much in use today on our farms in the U.S., Mexico, and Brazil.

Finally, as more and more of us recognize the health benefits of colorful fruits and veggies in our diets, Positive Sprouts is literally planting the seeds of lifelong healthy-eating habits for these kids.

What a terrific legacy to my dad – and a tribute to the power of giving back to the community!