WRITTEN BY KATHRYN ABBOT
Whether it’s a batch of Vitamin C chewable tablets made from Acerola cherries or white chia seeds incorporated in so many skincare essentials, we at Amway understand the efficacy and the overall benefits that many plants and plant-based goods bring to people and the planet in general. However, this is most apparent when the plants and the environment they grow and live in are well-protected, maintained and cared for.
And for Amway, the best way to achieve this is through being sustainable from bottom to top.
Plants: The Foundation for Our Products and Sustainability Journey
Businesses using more sustainable practices and making more eco-friendly items are not new, although they have increased in the past few decades.
However, with our extensive history of integrating plants and other natural resources into its ingredients via its brand NUTRILITE™, we at Amway see sustainability an opportunity to further develop and grow while doing all we can to help our planet and empower people to live better, healthier, and more sustainable lives.
In fact, it is because of our research and understanding of plants’ power to promote and support people’s well-being that we have embarked on our sustainability journey and applied practices that are safer and better for people and the environment. All of this further aligns with and supports our mission of providing people with quality products and giving them the chance needed to create their own thriving businesses from sharing what they love.
So, not only are we working to be sustainable in the making and packaging of our products, but we have also taken great lengths to do the same in growing and caring for our ingredients in said products. By using organic and restorative farming methods that work well for both our crops and their natural ecosystems in all 6,000 hectares of farmland that we have in Mexico, Brazil and Washington State, U.S.A. (NUTRILITE™-owned certified organic farms), we can secure safe, clean, traceable, and effective ingredients for our products.
Yet, these methods have only been as effective as they are since we created and continually improved upon with three core principles in mind.
Three Principles for Sustainable Farming
These three principles are what ensure that every farm we have (and any NutriCert™-certified partner farm that we work with) to yield healthy and high-quality crops in a sustainable, transparent, and reliable way:
- Maintain Soil Health
Healthy soil is crucial for healthy plant life and a healthier planet. That is why Amway farms have used several methods to support and maintain our land’s health and fertility since the beginning. These methods include rotating crops, planting cover crops along with our main ones, and return any unused plant material to the land as compost and fertilizer to increase our soil’s organic matter (and micronutrients), improve soil structure, minimize soil erosion, and more.
Doing all of these, along with reducing as much soil tilling as possible, we have managed to both maintain our farmland’s soil health and enable it to capture and retain carbon, which is important for plant health and better for the environment. We are also looking to expand our perennial crops and planning to use laser weeders to remove weeds without disturbing our land’s topsoil. And we encourage our partner farms to prioritize soil health and apply the same or similar sustainable means as well.
- · Increase Biodiversity
Maintaining and increasing biodiversity is also essential to our farms since it helps keep the soil healthy in many ways, which includes promoting natural fertilization. So, to increase it within our farms, we have taken to using various, differing cover crops (usually native botanicals if possible) and apply inter-row cropping. We also build pollinator habitats to further support local pollinators, like insects and small animals, and will create seed banks to conserve the genetic material of our key botanicals.
This way, we can sustainably and successfully grow high-quality botanicals for our products while enriching and keeping the local ecosystems of our farmland intact. As per protocol, we also highly encourage our partner farms to also protect the biodiversity of their land as much as possible.
- · Conserve Water
Lastly, we make sure to conserve water in our farms by using water meters, moisture sensors, and weather center data to enhance our crop irrigation and avoid any unnecessary water use. Along with this, we also assess the soil of our farms every day so that we would know how much water each of our healthiest plants would need and to support a healthier planet.
To increase our water-saving efforts and still provide excellent care to our botanicals, we are also using other viable methods as well, such as using detailed crop-care mapping to prevent over-watering. Additionally, we also consistently encourage our partner farms and other suppliers to work on their water conservation methods.
Better Plant Care for Better and Traceable Choices
Of course, growing and farming our NUTRILITE™-grown plants will not be complete without monitoring them from the start and consistently doing each step of the way excellently.
We trace our botanicals all the way back to the seed, registering them with NUTRILITE™ plant birth certificates that provide relevant information (date of planting and harvest, safety quality, and more). Along with that, our NUTRILITE-owned certified organic farms make sure that these botanicals are grown with pure water, clean soil, organic fertilizers, and no harsh chemicals.
In fact, you can see this in our NUTRILITE™ Traceability Process, which traces our whole product-making process from the best seeds (non-GMO) of our chosen botanicals to the finished results delivered to your doorstep. This 9-step procedure is applicable to all NUTRILITE™ products (and even many items from our other brands), making sure that both Amway and our customers alike can check the safety, purity, and quality of our products, along with the environmental impact we have in making and packaging them.
So, not only do our sustainable farming methods for our botanicals benefit both our products and the environment together, but it also helps customers and entrepreneurs like you. This is because the way we raise our ingredients and make our items makes sure that you have the traceable, excellent, and nutritious support you need and trust in your health journey, with minimal to no risks to yourself and the planet.
Still, Amway is working towards making a better impact on the environment through improving on and increasing the effect and capacity of our sustainable practices, starting with the plants we use in our products. While we still have work to do given the state of our environment around the world today, we will make sure that our actions and commitments reflect the planet’s urgent needs, guided by updated global research data.
And now, whether you are a customer enjoying our brands’ various products and collections and/or an entrepreneur seeking great opportunities for your business with the items you love, you can rest easy knowing where our items’ ingredients come from and how we farm them.
So, if you want to have traceable, effective, and safe choices to support your health while pursuing a more sustainable lifestyle, you can count on our products from NUTRILITE™, like its Healthy Weight and Healthy Heart Pack Solutions, and other Amway brands to help you on your wellness journey.
