Curious to know how you can guarantee you are purchasing high-quality, sustainably sourced and ethically produced products? Have you ever heard of a B-Corporation?
In this article, the company Banyan Botanicals will be spotlighted and the truth behind B-Corps will be revealed.
Key Takeaways
The Why
Two years ago I was accepted for a 10 week long internship at a certified Organic farm in Southern Oregon.
As a student of Ayurveda and Herbalism the internship offered me exactly what I was seeking in exchange for a few hours of work exchange each week.
My time was so incredibly unforgettable.
I met lifelong friends, gained a world of knowledge and new understanding and pushed my boundaries by placing myself into new comfort zones.
This farm is where I truly developed a love of sustainable farming practices to boot!
When it came time for me to cover a company that felt aligned with Leafy Souls, I knew Banyan Botanicals would be the best fit. I’d love to take the opportunity to share why I love this company so much as well as share their ethical principles and ethics.
Who is Banyan Botanicals?
Banyan Botanicals is B Corporation that sells and educates within the foundation of Ayurveda.
In business since 1996, the company strives to bring its customers the most ethically and sustainably sourced and high quality Ayurvedic products and supplements such as, massage oils, herbal supplements, meal ingredients, self-care essentials and powdered herbs to name a few.
The company's warehouse is based out of Albuquerque, New Mexico with farm locations in India and Southern Oregon, headquarters in Ashland, OR, as well as a partnership Ayurvedic Institute in Asheville, North Carolina.
Ayurveda works for all people and the intended goal is to cater to an individual's imbalance to bring balance back in. Some Ayurvedic products you may be interested to try are: herbal tablets for endurance, an Ayurvedic rose infused face oil, an ashwagandha latte blend or organic grass-fed ghee.
The website is user-friendly and invites you to take a simple test to determine where you may be in need of an appropriate supplement.
Banyan Botanicals sells products world-wide and caters to every individual. The ingredients used are high-quality and sustainably sourced.
Aside from their popular products the company is dedicated to promoting education within Ayurveda through their association with The Ayurvedic Institute in Asheville, North Carolina, as well as their working farm, offering internships in Southern Oregon.
What is a B-Corp?
Banyan Botanicals takes pride in their efforts as they are USDA certified organic, FairWild registered, and a third-party certified B-Corporation. So, what is a B-Corporation anyway?
According to the official website
“B Corp Certification is a designation that a business is meeting high standards of verified performance, accountability, and transparency on factors from employee benefits and charitable giving to supply chain practices and input materials. In order to achieve certification, a company must:
Demonstrate high social and environmental performance by achieving a B Impact Assessment score of 80 or above and passing our risk review. Multinational corporations must also meet baseline requirement standards.
Make a legal commitment by changing their corporate governance structure to be accountable to all stakeholders, not just shareholders, and achieve benefit corporation status if available in their jurisdiction.
Essentially, a B-Corporation is a business that meets exceptionally high standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency.
Certified B-Corps believe that businesses should benefit people, communities and the planet. Within a B-Corporation there is what's called a triple bottom line approach to business, also known as the three P’s: people, planet and profit.
With these three principles in mind, B-Corporations aim to benefit the people working, while supporting the planet and bringing in profit for the company.
The B-Corporation approach measures the progress and quality of a business through a point system.
This approach to business encourages associated companies to bring value to their businesses in a conscious and tangible way while keeping businesses accountable.
The official website even allows consumers to take note of the company’s overall score and determine the social/environmental impacts, ethics and transparency.
Examples of B-Corporations include
B-Corporations are changing the way capitalism works.
B-Corporations empower individuals to vote with their dollar while purchasing from a company that is held accountable in committing to fair trade practices, protecting the environment and serving the people involved.
In the case of Banyan Botanicals we can be certain they are practicing sustainable harvesting practices all while committing to their mission and supporting health, wellbeing and harmony for the planet.
FINAL THOUGHTS
A major goal of mine while writing for Leafy Souls is to highlight companies that I believe are making a difference on an ethical and sustainable level.
Companies that aren’t afraid to leave the mold and march to the beat of their own drum. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, but as consumers we truly have the power.
We can determine what shows up on our shelves and what becomes the new popular trend. We don’t need to wait for the magazines or social media to tell us what we think we need. With a little bit of research we can make sure that we are consuming the highest quality products created with highly ethical and sustainable standards.
It’s easy enough to pull up the B-Corp website and get a quick rundown of companies who work to maintain people and planet priorities. If you think you’d be interested in giving a new herbal supplement or product a go I can only highly recommend Banyan Botanicals.
