Informed Choices: A Letter from SC Johnson’s Chairman and CEO about Our 2017 Sustainability Report

It has been said that we are all defined by our choices. As a family company, this responsibility is front and center in every decision we make.

After all, we are not just asking people to use our products. We’re putting our family name on every single one of them. We want people to know how strongly we stand behind the choices that go into making them.

For more than 100 years, we have been pioneering in our industries, leading in our communities, and investing in the best science to help us go beyond what’s regulated to do what’s right.

Whether it was getting out of CFCs in the 1970s, phasing out volatile methylsiloxanes (VMS) recently, or the many milestones in between, we have continually made choices based on an intense scrutiny of ingredients and the newest, best data available to guide us.

But as much as we’re proud of the choices we make, what matters even more are the choices that are yours. Whose products you use. Whose advice you follow. Whose science you trust.

That’s why this year we’re sharing publicly, with more detail than ever, how our Greenlist™ ingredient selection program works.

Greenlist™ is SC Johnson’s peer-reviewed, science-based program that evaluates the impact on human health and the environment for every ingredient we use. First formalized in 2001, it continues to grow and improve, and now has 20-plus years of development behind it.

Marketing can manipulate. Companies can greenwash. But science shines a clear light on the impacts of ingredients, how those impacts can be moderated and when the best choice is to not use something at all.

Our Greenlist™ program helps us sort through an enormous amount of data from our suppliers and from sources such as the U.S. government’s TOXNET and the European Chemicals Agency. We look at factors such as carcinogenicity, human and environmental toxicity, biodegradability and allergenicity. And using this information, we determine how to make our products effective and safe.

We’re sharing the Greenlist™ program to show the care that goes into making all our products, like Glade®, Mr Muscle® and OFF!®. And for those who want to be informed on the products themselves, our WhatsInsideSCJohnson.com site gives a detailed list of the ingredients in each product, and an ingredient dictionary to answer questions.

This is what we mean by informed choices. In a world of Internet rumors, greenwashing and even product shaming, we’re trying to do everything we can to give an unbiased, science-based view of the products we make and the care we take to make them.

To that end, we’ve dedicated the majority of this sustainability report to the details of our Greenlist™ program, aiming to give a robust and detailed look at our criteria, process and principles.

But the report also gives updates on other company efforts underway as we continue working to protect the environment and make life better for families around the world. To us, these updates are part of keeping our consumers and stakeholders informed. They’re a testament to our commitment to act on our beliefs and report on our progress.

Among other milestones this past year, we reached zero manufacturing waste to landfill status at more than 65 percent of our manufacturing facilities, increased our global renewable energy use to 35 percent, exceeded our commitment to donate $15 million to combat mosquito-borne diseases and launched an industry-leading program for skin allergen disclosure.

I know I speak for the 13,000 people of SC Johnson when I say that we take all of these choices seriously and we’re proud of the science behind them. Making informed choices, and being transparent so that others can too, is more than just good business. It’s our responsibility as a family company. And, it’s our recognition of what matters most: The trust you put in our company and our products, and our commitment to live up to that trust, each and every day.

To us, nothing is more important.

-H. Fisk Johnson, Chairman and CEO