The whole team at the Gardiner Family Apothecary is passionate about employing sustainable behaviours to reduce our environmental impact. We do it by adhering to the following standards and practices – all designed to protect our ecosystems and support the best interests of our local and global environment.
___________________________________________
SEDEX Members
SEDEX is an internationally recognised ethical standard and membership organisation that provides one of the world’s leading online platforms for companies to manage and improve working conditions in global supply chains. They help companies improve their responsible and sustainable business practices, and source responsibly.
ISO 14001
ISO 14001 is a standard that details the requirements for an environmental management system. By using this standard as a guide, we have laid the foundations for continual improvement by reducing waste and reducing resource consumption within our organisation and by promoting environmental awareness among our people through training.
ECOCERT Certified
ECOCERT is an international, independent certification body that sets strict requirements for products and their manufacturing chain to guarantee ingredients are derived from renewable resources and products are manufactured using environmentally friendly processes.
ECOVADIS Certified
We’re pleased to announce that after evaluating our data, we have received the Silver Medal from EcoVadis. This places us among the top 25% of the highest-rated companies in the world (+100,000 companies assessed).
EcoVadis is one of the world’s largest and most trusted providers of business sustainability ratings, based on international standards. It assesses companies' actions and practices on their corporate social responsibility across 21 indicators spanning four categories: Environment, Labor & Human Rights, Ethics, and Sustainable Procurement.
The EcoVadis platform has helped us measure our Environmental Social Governance and compliance, to assess our corporate sustainability goals, and to drive impact with continued sustainability performance improvement initiatives for our company and our value chain.
______________________________________
Our Impact So Far:
At the Gardiner Family Apothecary, we are committed to making continuous progress on our sustainability journey, striving for a more positive impact every day. Here are some of our latest initiatives:
“Unboxed” Initiative: The number of trees planted through this program has increased from 1,200 in 2022 to 1,334 in 2023. Each tree offsets 22 kg of CO2, totaling a CO2 offset of 55,748 kg.
Zero Waste to Landfill: We have achieved 0% waste going to landfill.
CO2 Efficiency: We have maintained less than 150 tonnes of CO2 emissions per million in revenue.
CO2 Savings: Since 2014, we have achieved a 69.7% reduction in CO2 emissions per 1,000 units.
Sustainable Packaging: We source our transport packaging from certified sustainable forests and incorporate recycled content annually.
Renewable Energy: 41.1% of the energy purchased for our manufacturing site comes from renewable sources.
Packaging Innovations:
Post-Consumer-Recycled (PCR) Plastic: Our packaging is made from 30% PCR plastic, which is derived from recycled waste rather than new virgin plastic. Choosing PCR helps reduce the consumption of new plastic and gives new life to discarded materials.
Prevented Ocean Plastic Programme: Our bottles include materials sourced from this program, helping to prevent ocean plastic pollution and elevate standards for workers in this sector.
Energy Efficiency:
Decreased Energy Usage: Our energy usage per million USD has been decreasing since 2014, continuing the downward trend in 2023.
Solar Energy: Since installing solar panels in September 2019, we have been able to generate 100% of the lighting needs for our site. In 2023, the percentage of electricity generated from solar panels increased to 12.78%.
At the Gardiner Family Apothecary, we are dedicated to enhancing our sustainable practices and making a meaningful impact on the environment.
PETA Cruelty Free & Vegan
Our PETA Cruelty-Free certification means we have pledged not to conduct or commission any animal tests – within the EU or anywhere else in the world - on any of our ingredients, formulations, or finished products, now or at any time in the future.
Our products are suitable for vegetarians and certified PETA Vegan. The few exceptions contain antimicrobial Manuka Honey, Beeswax or Lanolin.
Made In Ireland
Our sensitive skincare solutions have been proudly made in the Gardiner Family Apothecary, Ireland since 1934, supporting generations of Irish jobs, families, and communities.
Renewable Energy
We have installed 220 solar panels at our fully integrated research and GMP manufacturing facility to allow us to produce our own energy in our sole manufacturing and distribution site in Ireland.
Circular Economy
We are progressing towards the vision of a 'circular economy', in which resources are re-used rather than going to landfill. We follow the four R's – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Recover energy, minimising the generation of waste and reducing its environmental impact through responsible disposal and recycling.
We're doing this by minimising single use packaging, particularly non-recyclable, single use plastic. So far, we have switched most of our pump packs to 100% recyclable materials. We have moved our Elave Sensitive Renew Range to new tubes made from aluminium, a 100% recyclable material which can be endlessly reprocessed and reformed without losing any of its quality. The cost of recycling aluminium is also low and the energy used is less, which in turn reduces the carbon footprint. Our redesigned smaller caps on these products use 80% less plastic.
We have also initiated a move towards offering larger pack sizes where possible, thus reducing our consumption of plastic and the carbon footprint of shipping our products.