Earlier this month, California-based manufacturing company Earth Island—the production facility of vegan brand Follow Your Heart (FYH)—became the first plant-based company to receive Gold Level Zero-Waste certification from sustainability watchdog group Green Business Certification Incorporated. The company has made strides over the past 12 months to earn its certification, including diverting 97 percent of its waste from landfills through reusing materials, recycling and composting programs, and employee education about reducing waste. The company re-designed the lids of FYH’s classic product, vegan mayo Vegenaise, to reduce its packaging usage by 23,700 pounds per year. “The love and care that Earth Island puts into every Follow Your Heart product is strengthened by their commitment to sustainability,” Earth Island’s CEO Bob Goldberg said. “It is simply an important part of being a responsible business in today’s world. It’s time for every business to contribute to changing the world for the better.” Meanwhile, companies that engage in animal agriculture continue to pollute the environment. A dairy farm in Iowa was fined $160,000 this year for its repeated Clean Water Act violations which included discharging waste from 10,000 cows into tributaries that connect to the Big Sioux River.

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