World Environment Day is celebrated annually on 5 June and is the United Nations‘ principal vehicle to deepen public awareness of the need to preserve and practise sustainable actions for the protection of the environment. Environmental protection forms one of the 3 pillars of corporate sustainability.
What is sustainability?
Sustainability is on everyone’s lips these days but it has so many facets that it is worth looking at a few definitions to truly grasp its importance and how it affects each of us. In layman’s terms, it requires man to live in harmony with the world around him, protecting it from damage, destruction and depletion. Differently put, sustainability refers to the ability to maintain or support a process continuously over time. In business and policy contexts, sustainability seeks to prevent the depletion of natural or physical resources, so that they will remain available for the long term.
One of the most useful and simplest sustainability definitions comes from the UN World Commission on Environment and Development: “Sustainable development meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
Why is sustainability important?
Sustainability is not a new concept. Since creation man has tended to be a consumer rather than a replenisher of environmental resources. The progression from seasonal hunter-gatherers to permanent settlements, practising slash and burn farming and crop plantations to the explosion of large cities and over-population leading to environmental damage, pollution, destabilising soils by cutting down trees, fossil fuels and other environmental issues, has finally made us intensely aware that resources are finite and should be replenished. And so we saw the birth of the social, economic and scientific environmental movement.
In 2005, the World Summit on Social Development identified three core areas or ‘pillars’ that contribute to the philosophy and social science of sustainable development. These “pillars”, first popularized by the Brundtland Commission, form the backbone of tackling the core areas that the world now faces.
The 3 Pillars of Sustainability:
- Economic viability covers various issues, from trade and investment to employment growth and private sector development.
- Social equity covers our well-being and includes aspects like healthcare, education, housing, employment, etc.
- Environmental protection refers to laws, regulations, and policies regarding environmental issues: air and water pollution, solid waste management, ecosystem management, maintenance of biodiversity, and the protection of natural resources, wildlife and endangered species.
What are the primary goals of Sustainability?
- The end of poverty and hunger
- Better standards of education and healthcare – particularly as it pertains to water quality and better sanitation
- To achieve gender equality
- Sustainable economic growth while promoting jobs and stronger economies
- All of the above and more while tackling the effects of climate change, pollution and other environmental factors that can harm and do harm people’s health, livelihoods and lives.
All this brings us to rooibos tea, more specifically, Carmién Tea and its contribution to sustainability in each of these three core areas. To us, sustainability is crucial, not only for health, social and economic practice, but for our children and our grandchildren, and the world we will leave them.
We believe in transparent sustainability practices that are eco-friendly. The recent Product Of Origin and GI certification awarded to rooibos ensures our customers that all our rooibos are sourced from certified suppliers, grown environmentally just and sustainably with a short supply chain providing rooibos direct from the farm and following non-GMO practices with as little as possible processing.
Our products are produced according to international food safety regulations. We have several certifications and accreditations such as Organic (USDA, JAS and EOS), Vegan, Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance, Kosher and Halaal and we get audited by these certification bodies on a regular basis. Our entire process is BRC Global Standard certified giving our brand an internationally recognised mark of food quality, safety and responsibility.
The Organic agriculture certifications guarantee:
- climate and environment protection
- conservation of soil fertility
- preservation of biodiversity
- respect of natural cycles and animal welfare
- absence of use of chemical and synthetic products,
- absence of GMO
- transparent labelling for consumers
On each pack of Carmién Rooibos tea, you will also find our Goodness seals communicating our commitment to our clients. We are in a continual process of ensuring eco-friendly and informative packaging to meet evolving clean label consumer demand. Read more here.
Sustainability is each of our responsibility. It is developing a new walk, a walk of awareness, doing our bit to ensure we eat clean, live clean, waste less and love and support generously.