1987
The Cousteau Society
Selected Shaklee cleaning products for the research vessels Calypso and Alcyone.
Company history
Shaklee’s environmental record
Eighteen environmental awards, a Nobel Peace Laureate, Jacques Cousteau’s research vessels, and the first Climate Neutral certification in the world. Most of it happened between 1990 and 2010, so here it is with the dates attached.
Who chose Shaklee
More telling than the awards, to my mind. These are organisations that picked these products for work where getting it wrong would have mattered.
1985
Wild Dolphin Project
Selected Shaklee products for the research vessel Stenella.
1996
Ocean Alliance and the Whale Conservation Institute
Selected Shaklee products for the research vessel Odyssey, which gathers data on ocean contaminants.
1991
Biosphere 2
Shaklee household and personal care products were selected for the sealed-environment project in Arizona.
1986–2007
Will Steger, National Geographic polar explorer
Shaklee supported four expeditions, including the first unsupported dog-sled journey to the North Pole and the first crossing of Antarctica on foot, 5,955 km.
1989
American Himalayan Foundation, chaired by Sir Edmund Hillary
Partnership building schools and health clinics and planting over a million trees in Asia.
2005
The Green Belt Movement, founded by Dr. Wangari Maathai
Shaklee became a major partner of the movement founded by the 2004 Nobel Peace Laureate, who went on to serve as Global Ambassador for Shaklee’s tree-planting campaign.
2007
Millennium Promise, founded by Dr. Jeffrey Sachs
Partnership providing solar electrification to villages in Malawi.
2007
The 11th Hour
The Leonardo DiCaprio-narrated documentary selected Shaklee as a partner.
Awards, 1990 to 2010
| Year | Award | Awarded by |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Green-Chip Award, one of the 10 most environmental companies | Family Circle |
| 2001 | Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership Award (Certificate of Recognition) | California EPA |
| 2001 | Edmund G. “Pat” Brown Award | California Council for Environmental and Economic Balance |
| 2001 | Savings by Design Energy Efficiency Integration Award | American Institute of Architects and California Council |
| 2001 | Vision for Tomorrow Award | Direct Selling Association |
| 2002 | Climate Protection Award | US Environmental Protection Agency |
| 2002 | Environmental Stewardship Award | Social Accountability International |
| 2003 | Gold Medal Award for Environment & Sustainability | Nutrition Business Journal |
| 2003 | National Environmental Excellence Award | National Association of Environmental Professionals |
| 2006 | Designated a Climate Leader | US Environmental Protection Agency |
| 2007 | Designated a Green Power Partner | US Environmental Protection Agency |
| 2007 | Organizational Design Award | Global Green USA |
| 2008 | Stevie Award, Best Corporate Environmental Responsibility Program | American Business Awards |
| 2008 | Named to the Top 20 Retail Partner list for green power purchasing | US EPA Green Power Partnership |
| 2009 | Clean Air Award, presented to Roger Barnett | Breathe California |
| 2009 | Business Environmental Award for Sustainability | Acterra |
| 2009 | Green Power Leadership Award | US Environmental Protection Agency |
| 2010 | Named an Industry Innovator | Climate Counts |
What people said at the time
Quoted exactly as published in Shaklee’s own environmental heritage document.
I don’t know a company that’s doing more to make environmental stewardship part of its core business practice and its commitment to the public than Shaklee. I have to say it’s really quite impressive to see a company that committed to go carbon neutral before it became fashionable.
Your efforts to make your operation carbon neutral and ensure that Shaklee products leave a light footprint on the Earth are pioneering. Of the 4.6 million trees Green Belt groups planted in Kenya in 2006, 100,000 were Shaklee-supported.
Shaklee’s interest in protecting the environment makes the company a perfect partner. For the past 20 years, we couldn’t have been successful without the support of the Shaklee community. The high quality of Shaklee products is essential for us in what we do because failure is not much of an option when it comes to survival.
A note on dates
The awards on this page stop in 2010, and the document most of them come from was last revised in 2015. That does not make them less real, but it does mean they are history rather than news, which is why every one of them carries its year.
One in particular needs care. Shaklee was designated an EPA Climate Leader in 2006, and you will still see that stated in the present tense in various places. The EPA retired the Climate Leaders programme on 30 September 2011. The 2006 designation happened; there is no such thing as a current Climate Leader.
Sources
Environmental record: common questions
Was Shaklee really the first Climate Neutral certified company?
That is Shaklee’s claim, and it is consistently stated across its own materials: in 2000 it became the first company in the world certified Climate Neutral, offsetting its CO2 emissions to a net zero impact. Shaklee states it maintained 100% net carbon-neutral status as recently as 2023.
Is Shaklee still an EPA Climate Leader?
No, and nobody is. Shaklee was designated an EPA Climate Leader in 2006, but the US EPA’s Climate Leaders programme itself ended on 30 September 2011. The designation is a real part of the record and it belongs in the past tense.
Did Jacques Cousteau really use Shaklee products?
The Cousteau Society selected Shaklee cleaning products for use aboard its research vessels Calypso and Alcyone in 1987. It is one of several cases where an organisation chose these products for work where a spill or a residue would have mattered.
How current is this record?
Mixed, and worth being clear about. The awards run from 1990 to 2010. The carbon-neutral status is current as of Shaklee’s 2023 statement. So treat the awards as history and the carbon-neutral position as the live claim.
What about the products themselves?
A company’s environmental record and how it tests what goes in the bottle are two different questions.
How Shaklee tests its productsBrowse the cleaning range