A commitment to responsible behaviour at the Aveda beauty products company has extended to the thorny problem of how to reduce the amount of geese droppings around its US headquarters.
The 1700-employee company, known for its ‘natural’ products, initially used dogs to chase the offending birds from its Minnesota base. But it decided this was causing the geese too much stress and set up a special ‘cross-functional committee’ to examine the problem. The committee produced a 40-page report which has resulted in $60,000 (£40,600) worth of landscaping designed to draw the birds away from the main building.
‘It was a lot of money to spend, but it means the geese will be controlled by natural methods and not by stress,’ said Aveda president Dominique Conseil, who has been responsible for developing the company’s sustainability policies.
Aveda, which was created in 1978, takes a new age approach to its business, with staff lighting candles before company meetings. Conseil said Aveda’s evangelical attitude to social responsibility had led some to dub its executives ‘the jojoba witnesses.’