Impact

With a shared goal of creating world-changing companies and industries, Catamount and its partners are working together to produce businesses and products that have a positive impact on society and on the planet—everything from creating jobs to enhancing environmental sustainability. We realized, however, that simply talking about making a difference isn't enough. Here are some facts and figures to back up our claims:

  • Our companies employ approximately 1,500 people, up from about 1,200 at the beginning of 2010.
  • The aggregate revenue of our firms in 2010 was approximately $560 million, up from about $450 million in 2009.

CATAMOUNT VENTURES

  • Purchases compostable and recyclable materials whenever possible
  • Composts and recycles the majority of our waste
  • Uses energy-saving appliances and practices
  • Utilizes natural sunlight

Partner Companies

NUMI

Certifications/Partnerships:

  • Certified B Corporation
  • Big Tree Climate Fund helped Numi conduct an annual emissions audit of carbon output for 2008, and then supplied the equivalent amount of carbon offsets and renewable energy certificates (RECs). Numi purchased enough carbon offsets and RECs to offset its total estimated emissions for 2009.
  • Numi's carbon offset purchases support the Brazilian Methane Avoidance/Clean Water Initiative, which has been selected by the Environmental Defense Fund as a model project for global carbon reductions

Products:

  • Numi goes to great lengths to source teas and ingredients that are USDA-certified organic wherever possible
  • All raw tea and herb materials are 100% biodegradable
  • Tea bags are made from natural fibers and feature a double chamber that releases all the subtle flavors each tea and herb has to offer

Packaging:

All packaging materials are biodegradable and/or recyclable and retail products are cello-wrap free.

Trees Saved: 5,202
Landfill Waste Reduced (pounds): 334,560
Energy Use Reduced  (ooo BTU): 2,754 million
Water Use Reduced (gallons): 2,332,740
Net Reduction Greenhouse Gas Emissions (pounds): 460,475

  • More than 95% of packaging materials incorporate the use of post-consumer waste or bamboo. In 2004 Numi's bamboo producers in Guangxi, China, switched from petroleum-based lacquer to 100% natural lacquer.
  • In 2007 Numi adopted soy-based inks for the printing of its retail cartons and other printed materials.
  • Numi also reduced its overall packaging materials by 50% by replacing foil with a metalized, white lining in its tea bag overwrap. Utilizing 100% post-consumer waste paper has reduced Numi's landfill usage by more than 82,000 pounds annually.
  • Numi recycles all plastic wrap, cardboard and wood materials used in conjunction with the transportation and storage of products. No byproducts or waste are generated in the production process.

Source:

SEVENTH GENERATION

Certifications/Partnerships:

  • Certified B Corporation
  • Member of WAGES cooperative
  • Strategic partnership with Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.; partnership helps Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, achieve its goal of selling products that sustain people and the environment.

Product:

Developed a product sustainability scorecard to drive product design decisions in the coming years. In an industry first, Seventh Generation committed to sourcing 100% sustainable palm kernel oil by 2012 and, as a first step, purchased certification credits to offset its palm kernel oil use in 2009.

Packaging:

Our packaging is the first thing our consumers see and the last thing they touch. It is important that it reflect the sustainability of our products.

  • Cardboard: Most of our product boxes and the boxes for our outer packaging are now 100% postconsumer recycled (PCR) content. Our goal is to convert the remainder as well, from 40% to 100% PCR in 2011.
  • Bottles: 90% postconsumer resin (PCR)
  • Detergents: Developed 2X concentrate formula and larger sizes to reduce packaging-to-product ratio

The materials in all our products will be composed of 100% renewable materials by 2015, and we will reduce our virgin plastic use by 80% by 2014.

Shipping:

  • Achieved a 32% drop in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per case of product shipped in 2010
  • Added two new manufacturing partners and five strategically located distribution centers to reduce transport miles

Source:
http://www.7genreport.com/

VERDIEM

Certifications/Partnerships:

  • Climate Savers Computing Initiative nonprofit group of eco-conscious consumers, businesses and conservation organizations dedicated to promoting the development, deployment and adoption of smart technologies that can both improve the efficiency of a computer's power delivery and reduce the energy consumed when the computer is in an inactive state.
  • Verdiem is an Energy Partner with Energy Star, a government-backed program dedicated to helping businesses and individuals protect the environment through superior energy efficiency

Verdiem software cuts PC electricity use by approximately 30%. With over $1.5 million licenses deployed, savings equate to:

  • $30 million in electricity costs annually
  • A reduction of over 100 million pounds of carbon emissions per year
  • A reduction of almost 400 million pounds of CO2 emissions per year
  • Taking 33,000 cars off the road annually

REVOLUTION FOODS

Certifications/Partnerships:


Environmental Practices:

  • We recycle and compost virtually all of our kitchen waste
  • We use energy-efficient insulated food storage units
  • Our education materials are produced on recycled paper and use soy-based inks
  • We use recyclable packaging whenever possible
  • Our hot food containers are printed with soy-based inks


Sourcing/Supply Chain:

  • We only partner with suppliers that adhere to our company quality criteria and that are committed to healthy, sustainable and environmentally friendly business practices.
  • Biodegradable packaging for sandwiches, wraps, and salads
  • Post-consumer recycled plastic containers for many hot meals
  • We separate trash and compost all food waste and biodegradable material


Preservation of natural agricultural resources:

  • Facilitating consumption of organic and natural foods, reducing the chemical burden on our agricultural landscape


Conscious commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions:

  • Proactively changing the natural food supply chain to reduce wasteful packaging and encourage bulk packaging through our purchasing volume
  • Reduce “food miles” by sourcing locally where appropriate
  • Retrofitted lighting in Oakland culinary center to reduce energy consumption
  • Pursuing additional opportunities to reduce energy consumption in our facilities
  • Committed to exploring opportunities to green truck fleet (biodiesel, hybrid)
  • We are committed to renewable and reusable resources and make every effort to utilize products that are products of post consumer waste.


Facility Resources Management:

  • Completed a lighting retrofit project in our Oakland culinary center using the Smart Lights Program. This entailed replacing every single bulb in the facility with new energy-efficient fixtures and bulbs.This includes all of the lighting in the offices as well as on the production floor. Some numbers:

    Estimated energy savings: 47,598 kWh/yr
    Power reduction: 16.525 kW
    CO2 emissions reduction: 52,273 lbs/yr

 NEST COLLECTIVE

Certifications/Partnerships:


Sourcing/Supply Chain:

  • Implemented intermodal shipments which take trucks off the road and utilize the rail to lower CO2 emissions.
  • Utilize bio diesel in their fleet of trucks.
  • For shipments since Feb 1st, we have shipped a total of 7 intermodal shipments out of 23 long haul opportunities. Each time we ship intermodal, it reduces CO2 by approx 62% each time. That equates to a savings of greenhouse emissions of approximately 19% over that span of time.