Eagle Protect: Pioneering Sustainable Solutions with High-Quality Gloves

In today's conscientious business landscape, the conversation around sustainability commonly moves to the forefront.

We are Eagle Protect, the world’s first certified B Corp disposable glove and clothing supplier, and have been at the forefront of redefining sustainable glove practices, demonstrating that investing in higher quality gloves not only benefits businesses but also significantly reduces their environmental impact. Let us explain how.

Redefining Quality: A Commitment to Sustainability

In our industry, we deal with disposable products that are mandatory and necessary for safety but inherently not environmentally friendly. Many people want to know how we're addressing sustainability. From responsible environmental sourcing to groundbreaking technology in manufacturing, we are working to set new standards in glove production.

Responsible Sourcing

Disposable products, like all products, have an environmental impact throughout the entire supply chain - not just the final product. We are striving to raise awareness in our industry and encourage companies to ask questions. From factories’ environmental practices, including the use and disposal of chemicals, there are many areas where we can reduce a glove’s environmental impact. Common to many B Corps, environmental responsibility is included in our Supplier Code of Conduct, a practice we are working to make commonplace in our industry.

Creating a Sustainably Better Glove

But, what actually is a more sustainable disposable glove? An easy example is our thinnest glove, our FineTOUGH nitrile. It is manufactured for premium quality and durability and can reduce a company’s glove consumption by up to 30%. How? Let’s break down Eagle Protect’s sustainable glove philosophy:

• Lighter Weight Gloves: Eagle gloves offer a unique balance of lightweight comfort and robust strength, reducing the weight of each glove by up to 50% compared to standard gloves. Simply put, if you use a 3g glove versus a 6g glove, the 3g glove will create 50% less waste upon disposal. 

• Stronger Gloves: By using high-quality ingredients we increase glove durability and reduce ripping, which reduces a business’s overall glove use. Basically, the gloves will actually work and not tear by simply putting them on. A stronger glove can reduce a company’s glove use by 30%.

• Reduced Packaging: A lighter weight (thinner) glove enables more gloves to fit in each box, minimizing packaging and transport emissions. In some cases, there are twice the normal amount of gloves per box, reducing packaging waste, and aligning with eco-conscious packaging strategies.

Waste Reduction & Recycling

At Eagle Protect we prioritize sustainability through waste reduction initiatives. The combination of lightweight gloves, fewer failures, and minimized packaging leads to a significant decrease in our customers’ glove and packaging waste. 

“Can disposable gloves be recycled?” is probably one of the most common questions we get asked in the realm of sustainability. Yes, but it’s a bit tricky.

Nitrile Glove Recycling

Nitrile disposable glove recycling is currently conducted by TerraCycle, but the process involves additional costs, sometimes doubling a company’s glove budget, which may not be feasible for some businesses. 

Polyethylene Glove Recycling

Poly gloves, such as Eagle STRETCHPoly and TPE gloves, are 100% recyclable. The catch is that your municipality's recycling program has to have the capability to recycle this type of plastic. In our experience, we’ve been finding this to be a bit hit or miss. Poly gloves (and pallet wrap) can also be recycled through specific programs, like Revolution Bag, offering a closed-loop recycling process that transforms products into reusable items.

The Complexities of Compostable & Biodegradable Gloves

The quest for compostable and biodegradable gloves is complex.

• Compostable gloves made from polylactic acid (PLA) need specific composting facilities, limiting their environmental benefit. It’s worth noting that compostable gloves are not FDA-compliant for food handling.

• Biodegradable options, including nitrile gloves, pose challenges. While there is a growing trend in biodegradable gloves, they come with nuances in biodegradation speed and environmental impact, affecting both durability and performance.

We can't skip talking about vinyl gloves, which are still widely used in the US. These gloves, made from polyvinyl chloride (PVC), come with serious risks to both human health and the environment. They are non-biodegradable and have long-term effects, including endocrine-disrupting chemicals and major food safety concerns. Due to these safety concerns, among others, we ceased supplying vinyl gloves in 2016.

At Eagle Protect, we are actively exploring biodegradable glove options, but we feel until the technology advances we will continue to focus on sustainable practices that reduce environmental impact throughout our company’s supply chain. Embracing the "reduce, reuse, and recycle" mantra, we aim to reduce waste primarily by offering gloves of higher quality that inherently cut glove usage and disposed glove material.

Striding Towards a Sustainable Future

At Eagle Protect, our emphasis on high-quality gloves reflects our commitment to sustainability. By reducing glove consumption, waste and environmental impact, Eagle’s gloves align with the global B Corp call for responsible business practices. We are continuously working to encourage companies to adopt a more sustainable mindset and take crucial steps toward a greener future. For further sustainable and company information, read our latest Impact Report.

We are always interested in hearing your experiences with disposable gloves or answering questions you may have. Feel free to contact me at tracey@eagleprotect.com or say hello at our next Colorado B Corp gathering.

Interview with Scott's Roofing Owner, Gary Nickell

If you’re like me, you’ve probably heard roof work going on around you, in your neighborhood, the last few months as a result of the hailstorms. This week alone there were two roofs being worked on near my house. Workers start early and work late and are subject to heat and other elements (i.e., 90+ degree temps, rain, and thunderstorms this week).

B Local Colorado wanted to check in with Colorado-based B Corp Scott’s Roofing to ask about roofing tips and talk about their B Corp journey. B Local CO’s Christine Briscoe had a chance to chat by phone with Owner Gary Nickell this week.

Scott’s Roofing’s Mission

Scott’s Roofing “is on a mission to install Colorado’s best quality, environmentally friendly roofs, while pioneering a model for sustainable business. We strive to create a small environmental footprint, using upcycled materials to reduce landfills. And we have pledged to be carbon neutral by 2030”.

Environmental Impact: 

Scott’s Roofing partners with Malarkey Roofing due to their high-performance, sustainable roofing shingles with rubberized asphalt technology. The average roof made with Malarkey shingles upcycles 5 rubber tires and 3,200 plastic bags. Plus, the shingles’ 3M smog-reducing granules have the effect of planting up to 2 trees in reducing air pollution.

Demand:

Regarding the work demand caused by the hailstorms, Gary stated that volume has been a challenge, but they have an experienced crew (everyone has been there for over 5 years) including one bilingual woman which is a great asset. They try to set reasonable expectations with customers. The issue they are facing now is daylight running out and Gary aims to have a lot of the work wrapped up by Thanksgiving. 

Roof repair and maintenance tips

If you are having work done on your roof: Clear the surrounding area, bring things inside or cover items, and keep in mind that the work will cause vibration. 

In terms of preventative tips, Gary suggested keeping gutters clean and having a roofing company come out once annually to do a check. Also, he recommends Class 4 impact shingles which are hail-resistant. 

B Corp Journey

Scott’s Roofing is proud of their B Corp status and some homeowners have selected them due to that status. Gary says that certification was a painstaking process that took 6 months. They are due for recertification later this year. 

Advocacy:

Scott’s Roofing is active in working to improve state policy in Colorado around recycling old roof shingles that end up in landfills.

For more about Scott’s Roofing check out their website here: https://www.scottsroofingcolorado.com and see our previous blog post on them here: https://www.blocalcolorado.com/blog/scotts-roofing. 

B Certification Journey Spotlight: YellowDog

The following is a guest post from YellowDog, an award-winning design, print, and marketing studio based in Denver, Colorado. A self-described ‘B Curious’ company, YellowDog reflects below on their journey towards certification.

As both a certified Woman-Owned Business and a member of the Environmental Leadership Program, YellowDog is already an example of business existing as a force for good in our world. And we at B Local can’t wait to continue cheering YellowDog on along their journey toward B Corp certification!

What We Have Learned, Hope to Achieve, and Our Experience on the Journey Toward B Corp Certification

by Bailey Patterson

“B Curious” Means Awareness and Aspiration to Become a B Corp Business

You may have heard of the term B Corp and have a varying level of understanding what this means. This could simply be seeing the logo on products you purchase at the grocery store (shoutout to Ben and Jerry’s), recognizing what this status means, or even taking a look at the Initial Impact Assessment. Congratulations, you’re B Curious! This is totally an okay place to be, and actually, this is where YellowDog is right now.

So, what makes the B Corp certification such a big deal? A certified B Corp, or Benefit Corporation, is one that exhibits the highest standard of social good, environmental sustainability, and ethical governance. This is also tied to the Triple Bottom Line – People, Planet, Profit – a key strategy for any sustainable business. To achieve the title of B Corp, your company must meet the standards of verified performance, accountability, and transparency both internally and throughout their upstream and downstream supply chains.

Getting Started

After setting up an account on B Impact Assessment (easy enough) you are then faced with an extremely daunting questionnaire. Questionnaire is a bit of an understatement; the full assessment is over 200 questions divided into six key categories: Governance, Workers, Community, Environment, Customers, and Disclosures. The questions will change slightly based on some of your initial answers, like questions specifically regarding full time employees (FTE) will be added if you say the majority of your workforce is FTEs. You only need to complete 90% of this assessment, but it doesn’t hurt to answer all the questions to see where you can improve. It’s also important to note that this assessment remains confidential until you reach 80 points and decide to go up for review. 

When I started this process for YellowDog, I approached it in the following way:

1. Filled out the Impact Assessment based on our Business-as-Usual approach.

2. Identified gaps and opportunities for growth by looking at our lowest and highest-ranking categories and where we stood compared to our industry and companies of our size (each section of questions will show you this! Click “Benchmarks” at the top of the webpage of the Impact Assessment)

3. Met with Dan and Jenny, owners of the company, to further identify and understand their “Whys” for pursuing B Corp standing

4. Using all the new information collected and prior knowledge about the business, develop a project plan, keeping in mind point values, projects that could pertain to multiple questions, and projects that align with your “why” and the company’s mission

This was my process and what worked best for me based on the timeframe and other business operations that YD employees have day-to-day. This can certainly be customized to your company, delegated to several departments, etc. 

Mindset is Everything

Clearly, becoming a B Corp doesn’t happen overnight! It is so important to take your time when going through the questions because once you achieve an 80-point score, your company will be audited for accuracy. While this process is extensive, this brings full legitimacy to the certification and the companies who have B Corp status. Another thing to keep in mind is that even while on the journey, your company is improving their Triple Bottom Line measures, and will be completing a lot of projects that can be shared to inspire others! The progress that your business will make every step of the way will add to its exceptionality. 

It can’t be overlooked that the reductions of resources that inevitably come from making BAU changes while completing this application is extremely cost-effective. Also, pursuing and obtaining a B Corp status is showing as a great method for candidate interest and employee retention. Employees are wanting to work at a company with strong values, and even pursuing B Corp status shows just that.

Lastly, it is shown clearly through the questions of the Impact Assessment that the overall goal is to track your company’s metrics in the six categories. Being aware is more important than being perfect. If you uncover something less-than-ideal about one of your suppliers, that is okay. The goal is that now that you know this, you can keep an eye out for new competitive suppliers entering the market that still work well for your business. Sustainable Business is all about progress, not perfection.

What’s Next for YellowDog?

After a thorough review of our current Impact Assessment and the gaps we can reduce, we prioritized the recommendations I made for our roadmap to B Certified. I went through the list of action-items that made sense for the business and our current focus, categorizing these into projects. For example, several of our “missing points” can be achieved through a single supplier survey. By consolidating the questions into projects whenever possible, you not only increase your efficiency in progressing to an 80-point score, but also can conceptualize how these questions work together to increase your company’s transparency and accountability.

Some solutions will take a lot of time, a lot of capital resources, or both. And that’s why it’s important to go in with a strategy and patience. We are so excited to begin on this journey, especially because, with the completion of each project, we will not only be closer to B Corp status, but more intertwined with YellowDog’s mission and values. 

TL; DR? Bailey’s Top 5 Tips

1. Understand your “Why”. Why does your company want to pursue B Corp status?

2. Be patient. The assessment is long, and making changes to obtain a qualifying score can take time depending on your baseline.

3. Compare yourself to others. Click “Benchmarks” at the top of the webpage of the Impact Assessment, which shows you how you compare to your industry and businesses of similar size.

4. Stay true to your mission. Go after points by completing projects that strengthen your company’s core values. This will be much more productive. 

5. Be accurate. Upon submission you will have to go through an audit, so it is important that everything you put in the application is true to the best of your knowledge.

Bonus Tip!

Remember progress, not perfection. You will still earn points just by tracking metrics that are material to your company. Even if what you find isn’t deemed “good,” measuring is the only way to reduce.