Eco-Friendly Company: Santa Cruz Organic

I’m going to be posting a review of Santa Cruz Organic’s peanut butter soon, but before that, I figured we’d take a closer look at the company.

Santa Cruz Organic has been selling all sorts of organic foods for more than 30 years now. They carry teas, peanut butter, juice, applesauce, sodas, dessert toppings and more. My son Cedar is a HUGE fan of their organic juices (shown above) and of course I like them too because they’re organic. Geez, I sound like a commercial. Actually though this is a very cool company. Some of this companies eco-perks include:

They’re organic: Santa Cruz offers many yummy organic foods and drinks that kids will actually enjoy. I’ve never had a problem with Cedar drinking their juice and I like them too. Obviously organics hold many benefits from better taste, to no pesticides, to more sustainable farming methods, to soil and water preservation and conservation.

They recycle well: As of recent years, Santa Cruz has upped their recycling efforts. They offer reduced packaging, recyclable packaging, and have received the WRAP Award (Waste Reduction Awards Program) for the past seven years. In 2006 the company achieved a remarkable 96% recycling rate for production. That means very little Santa Cruz waste ends up in a landfill (4%). In total since 1996 their recycling program has diverted over 37,000 tons of trash from local area landfill. Not bad at all.

They’re offsetting: One of the companies newest endeavors is offsetting their energy use. They recently started purchasing renewable energy certificates to offset 100% of the energy used to produce Santa Cruz Organic brand products. This new strategy prevents more than two million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions from being released into the atmosphere every year.

Green power member: Santa Cruz Organic participates in the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Green Power Partnership. This is a voluntary program that stimulates businesses and other organizations to support new, clean renewable energy technologies.

They’re Fair Trade: Their newest line of tea-juice blends are Fair Trade.

They’re healthy and safe: Their products, such as peanut butter don’t contain hydrogenated oils, added sugars or artificial ingredients. Their fruit sauces are free from added sugars. They don’t put high fructose corn syrup and other icky stuff in their juice or soda either.

They’re family friendly: An organic company is really only useful if you can actually afford their products. Santa Cruz is not some bling organic company that only rich tree huggers can afford. I started buying their juices for my son, when he was a baby and while I was attending college (i.e. not working). I was always able to find sales and discounts – such as bottles of juice for around $1.oo – $1.50. Fast forward eight years, and you can still find awesome deals on their products plus the company is one of the few organic companies who offers plenty of coupon opportunities. They have a coupon page that updates with new coupons once in a while and I’ve seen them featured in Mambo Sprouts. Overall, I think they’re a cost-friendly organic company.

Stay tuned for a review of Santa Cruz Organic Peanut Butter coming up soon. My son’s never tried their brand of organic peanut butter (and he’s picky), so we’ll see what he and I think.