Avon is committed to helping end deforestation – a global crisis that endangers the wellbeing of the planet and the survival of all living creatures. The company is applying its resources to empower a global environmental movement, using its unique ability to educate, engage, and mobilize people worldwide to do good and give back in this important cause.
And while the global mobilization rolls on, behind the scenes, Avon is focused on environmental stewardship throughout the business enterprise.
We know that working together, we can help plant a future.
In 2010, the inaugural Hello Green Tomorrow program raised more than $2 million for the Atlantic Rainforest in South America. This year, Avon Hello Green Tomorrow is mobilizing and fundraising in more than 50 countries across six continents to help save two of the most critically endangered ecosystems on earth: the Atlantic Rainforest, once again, as well as the endangered forests of Borneo and Sumatra in Indonesia.
A collection of unique fundraising products has been created by Avon worldwide, with all proceeds donated to the Hello Green Tomorrow Fund.
Avon is also using its unique woman-to-woman network of 6.5 million Sales Representatives to help drive “green” education and behavior change, focused on the “Five R’s”:
reduce, reuse, recycle, rethink and replant.
Avon has robust environmental management, metrics and goals throughout the business enterprise. Details can be found in the environmental section of the online Corporate Responsibility Report.
The key areas of focus are noted below, and just two of our 2010 achievements include 21% decrease in greenhouse gas emissions from 2005 baseline levels and a 78% rate of recycling at our facilities, with many facilities sending zero waste to landfills. More metrics can be found by clicking here.
Avon is a significant consumer of paper products, and is positioned to influence both supply and demand in the market, and thus contribute to the development of environmental solutions that conserve, protect and restore forests. In early 2010, Avon launched the Avon Paper Promise, a policy that fully supports responsible forest management practices that both protect biodiversity and ecosystem integrity and result in long-term social and economic benefits to communities.
The goals of the Avon Paper Promise are to:
Palm oil is a common ingredient in innumerable products, and palm oil plantations have had a great impact on the destruction of tropical forests and peatlands, especially in Southeast Asia. While 80% of palm oil is used for food, not cosmetics, and Avon is not a significant user of palm oil, the company is committed to doing its part and has announced the Avon Palm Oil Promise.
Through the Palm Oil Promise, Avon has become the first major beauty company to commit to back 100% of its global palm oil use with certificates designed to advance the production of sustainable palm oil. The company is paying a premium to producers by purchasing GreenPalm certificates covering all of its global palm oil use, which will help drive demand for sustainable palm oil and increase the supply. GreenPalm is a certificate trading program endorsed by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), which seeks to increase sustainable palm oil production.
Avon has joined the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil to help continue the development, implementation and verification of credible global standards for sustainable palm oil. Avon also supports the current moratorium on the conversion of primary forests and peatlands into palm oil plantations.
Avon is supporting Hello Green Tomorrow in more than 50 countries, with fundraising products launching between April and the fall. Contact an Avon Sales Representative or the local Avon website to learn more. Click here for a list of websites.
The Nature Conservancy (TNC) was founded in 1951 and is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. The organization is headquartered in the US and works in more than 30 countries. TNC has protected more than 119 million acres of land and 5,000 miles of rivers worldwide, and they operate over 100 marine conservation projects globally.
In 2010 TNC received over $2 million from the inaugural Avon Hello Green Tomorrow global program for their continuing work to restore the Atlantic Rainforest in South America. With the Hello Green Tomorrow Funds, TNC’s work included:
Visit www.nature.org to learn more.
Map showing remnants of the Atlantic Forest in Brazil, 2000, courtesy of The Nature Conservancy.
World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is one of the world’s leading conservation organizations, working in 100 countries for the past 50 years. With the support of almost 5 million members worldwide, WWF is dedicated to delivering science-based solutions to preserve the diversity and abundance of life on Earth, halt the degradation of the environment and combat climate change.
This year, Avon will contribute half the proceeds from the Hello Green Tomorrow merchandise sales to WWF. These funds will be designated to support WWF programs in the devastated areas of Borneo and Sumatra, in the island nation of Indonesia. These funds will help conserve some of the most diverse forests in the world.
Visit www.worldwildlife.org to learn more.
Map showing span of Indonesian tropical forests courtesy of World Wildlife Fund
