We at Handgards realize that there is a severe environmental crisis that must be addressed. As citizens of this planet we must begin a sustainable way of life to make sure that the planet will be livable for ourselves, for our children, and for future generations. As the market leader and innovator of new products, we are both pleased and excited to introduce our new “green” initiative to help make that sustainable way of life a reality.
Domestic manufacturing has always been a part of the Handgards way. Since 1959, we have produced various bags, aprons and poly gloves at our facility located here in the U.S. Our ability to quickly turn around new products, such as our Planetgards™ Compostable poly products, not only curbs extensive lead times, but also eliminates shipping containers across the Pacific ocean; greatly reducing our carbon footprint as well as yours. Though some of our products are still produced in China, our compostable products as well as various others will always be Made in the USA.
We have recently begun a company wide initiative to reduce our corrugate packaging. With the help of our partner, Green Bay Packaging, we have reduced our corrugate by 40% on two product lines, with a third in the works. Amazingly, by reducing our packaging on only two product lines, we have managed to save over 1,100 trees annually! This is the equivalent of saving 69 metric tons of carbon dioxide!
Our corrugated packaging partner, Green Bay Packaging, Inc., is pleased to announce that all of its corrugated shipping container manufacturing divisions have earned Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI®) certification. To earn SFI Certified Sourcing Label, Green Bay Packaging’s corrugated container facilities demonstrated that at least two-thirds of the company’s packaging fiber materials originate from sustainable sources: one third from 3rd party SFI-certified sources, and one-third from recycled paper sources.
Last year, Handgards increased the minimum shipment weight for prepaid freight. Not only has this enabled us to maximize our warehouse turns but also reduced the number of trucks on the road – Estimated impact: 100 trucks off the road per year!
By implementing lean manufacturing practices we have been able to nearly eliminate our third shift and still remain as the only domestic producer of Poly Gloves in the USA! We are also looking into the possibilities of using alternative energy sources, such as solar paneling. Also, our warehouses and manufacturing facilities have all been converted to use “energy-efficient” lighting.
