Our Commitment to the Environment

Gardener’s Supply is in business to spread the joys and rewards of gardening because we believe that gardening can bring about positive changes in people’s lives, in communities and in the environment.

For more than 25 years, our company has been a trusted resource for earth-friendly products that help people garden in harmony with nature. Our customers use our products and information to make positive contributions to the environment every day, right in their own backyards and communities. We also know that how we operate our business can help lead the way to a more sustainable future.

Climate change is a staggering environmental challenge. Gardener’s Supply, like many businesses around the world, is grappling with how to measure our environmental footprint and how to establish realistic goals that will help us minimize that footprint as much as possible, as soon as possible.

The standards for measuring environmental impact are evolving rapidly. Carbon emissions, also referred to as greenhouse gas emissions, are gaining international acceptance as an effective currency for calculating and tracking these impacts.

The World Resource Council "Greenhouse Gas Protocol" is becoming a widely accepted accounting tool for quantifying carbon emissions and establishing standards. The program focuses on three categories of emissions. Scope 1 emissions are those directly within our ownership or control (like gasoline for our delivery truck or propane for our greenhouses). Scope 2 emissions are indirect emissions from our consumption of purchased electricity and other fuels (used to heat our buildings, run computers, etc.). Scope 3 emissions include all other indirect emissions such as transportation to distribute our products, energy to make the product we don’t make ourselves, waste disposal, employee commuting, etc. (Scope 3 also takes into account certain positive effects of business activity, such as storing carbon in compost and helping customers grow food at home rather than having it shipped across the country.)

Our company has a long-term goal to neutralize the carbon impact of our business. Working with Spring Hill Solutions, we have completed audits for both Scope 1, Scope 2 and selected Scope 3 emissions. Below are some of the areas we are addressing and the actions we are taking.

Working with Kilawat Technologies and Efficiency Vermont, we have implemented a combination of energy efficiency retrofits and behavioral changes that have significantly reduced the amount of energy that we use in our offices and warehouses.

As an employee-owned business, our staff has been instrumental in making these changes and maintaining our focus on continued energy and waste reduction. A cross-functional team of employees, representing all areas of the business, meets regularly to collect and implement ideas ranging from carpooling and lunchroom composting, to office paper reduction and the use of earth-friendly cleaning products. 

Gardener’s Supply has been promoting earth-friendly gardening and environmentally-responsible living since 1983. We are a leading source for products that help people recycle waste into compost, build better soil, control pests organically, conserve water, protect biodiversity and grow their own food.

When sourcing the products that we sell, we consider a range of environmental factors and favor the use of recycled or renewable materials.

We print our catalogs with Quad Graphics, an industry-leader in environmentally responsible initiatives and policies. Working closely with them, we strive to print and mail our catalogs as efficiently as possible. We are also committed to using paper that contains a minimum of 10% post consumer recycled fibers. Please pass along or recycle our catalogs.

We want our catalogs to be welcome in your home. If you are receiving duplicate catalogs, too many catalogs, or catalogs to more than one person in your home, we want to know about it. Please call us at 1-800-843-1819if you’d like us to make a change in how we contact you, or if you wish to be removed from our mailing list. We use this information to update our mailing list each time we send out a new catalog.

Nearly 1/3 of the greenhouse gas emissions on our planet are linked to negative land use practices. Deforestation and soil erosion from industrial agriculture release stored CO2. Draining wetlands releases both CO2 and methane, a gas that is 26 times more potent than CO2. The use of nitrate chemical fertilizers pollutes water, degrades soil and is a major source of nitrous oxide pollution, a greenhouse gas that is 300 times more polluting than CO2. Reducing these practices can have a significant effect on slowing climate change.

On a national and international scale, adopting positive land use practices such as reforesting degraded lands, rebuilding soil, and restoring wetlands and grasslands, are critical. When plants capture atmospheric CO2 through photosynthesis they store (sequester) excess greenhouse gasses in healthy natural systems. Carbon sequestration also helps capture water to refill aquifers and safeguard biodiversity. The Earth Partners, co-founded by Gardener’s Supply, is a catalyst in the US and beyond for restoring soil and degraded ecosystems through carbon sequestration.

We can all be part of the solution at home, as well. By managing our lawns organically rather than with chemical fertilizers and replacing toxic pest controls and herbicides with effective, earth-friendly solutions, we protect and cultivate healthy, sustainable ecosystems. Planting trees, shrubs and cover crops, adding organic matter to the soil, and composting food and yard waste at home are all positive actions that sequester carbon and can help address climate change. We invite you to use our innovative Carbon Calculator to estimate your personal carbon footprint.

Gardener’s Supply, and in particular our company’s founder Will Raap, are actively involved in land restoration initiatives that are working to protect and restore the Earth’s forests, farms, wetlands and rangelands. These activities include The Intervale Center in Vermont, a watershed restoration project in Costa Rica called Greening Paraiso and other local, national and international initiatives. Learn more ...