Letter From Benefits Officer
Dear Valued Partner,
Badger was founded in 1995 when our father, a rugged New England carpenter, herbalist, and entrepreneur made a simple healing balm for his cracked hands. In those early days, our family hand-filled tins in our small cabin. Over the years, we’ve grown into a global brand that leads the way for high-quality organic skincare.
Today, we honor our roots while embracing the future, with innovation and sustainability at the heart of everything we do. In 2024, we introduced the first of a new generation of Badger products—our Daily and Face sunscreens. These formulas blend radically clean, organic ingredients with a luxurious feel for everyday wear. This breakthrough represents the future of Badger—organic skincare that delivers on efficacy, sustainability, and experience.
As a certified B Corporation, we continuously strive to measure and improve our impact. In 2024, we made significant progress in understanding our environmental footprint and maintained an over 90% waste diversion rate, reinforcing our commitment to a circular economy.
Beyond our own business, we believe in advocating for change on a larger scale and that everyone deserves access to safe, non-toxic beauty. In 2024, I traveled to Washington, D.C. with the Breast Cancer Prevention Partners, joining industry leaders in pushing for the Safer Beauty for All Act.
As we look ahead, we remain deeply committed to our mission: creating the cleanest, most effective skincare while pushing the industry toward greater sustainability and accountability. Thank you for being on this journey with us.
Sincerely,
Rebecca Hamilton Co-CEO and Benefits Officer
W.S. Badger Company
Who We Are
Makers of organic body care. Family owned and operated since 1995.
Our Mission
We’re on a journey to create a healthier world. We expertly formulate healing products for all ages--made with intention, care, and the purest organic ingredients. But we’re more than just a personal care company. We’re a family business on a mission to cultivate good for people and the planet. Every decision we make is rooted in integrity, sustainability, and our love for nature. Through our products and our advocacy, we work to create lasting, positive change for all, because we believe a healthier world begins with us.
2024 Impact Assessment
In 2024 Badger kicked off our 4th recertification. We look forward to completing recertification in 2025.
Overall B Impact Score
• Governance evaluates a company’s overall mission, engagement around its social/environmental impact, ethics, and transparency.
• Workers evaluates a company’s contributions to its employees’ financial security, health & safety, wellness, career development, and engagement & satisfaction.
• Community evaluates a company’s engagement with and impact on the communities in which it operates, hires from, and sources from. Topics include diversity, equity & inclusion, economic impact, civic engagement, charitable giving, and supply chain management.
• Environment evaluates a company’s overall environmental management practices as well as its impact on the air, climate, water, land, and biodiversity. This includes the direct impact of a company’s operations and, when applicable its supply chain and distribution channels.
Customers evaluates a company’s stewardship of its customers through the quality of its products and services, ethical marketing, data privacy and security, and feedback channels.
Disclosure Questionaire identifies any potentially sensitive industries, practices, outcomes or fines/sanctions within a company.
2024 Awards
Real Leaders Impact Award
The Real Leaders Impact Awards recognize privately owned businesses that positively impact their employees, society, and the planet. Over 500 applications from 15+ countries were submitted, with 185 companies recognized. The 2024 list features a mix of respected impact brands (including certified B Corps) of all sizes and from a variety of industries. This is our fifth year receiving this award.
GDUSA 61st Design Award | Grooming Line Rebrand
Badger is thrilled to receive this prestigious award for the rebranding of its Grooming Line.
The GDUSA Design Awards spotlight the year’s most compelling creative achievements, spanning packaging, branding, digital, and integrated campaigns. Winners represent the gold standard in design excellence, showcasing the impact of innovative visual storytelling.
Advocacy & Engagement
Advocacy: Safer Beauty for All
Since our early days, Badger has advocated for regulations that protect consumers from toxins and undisclosed ingredients in personal care products. The urgency of this issue was underscored during our recent collaboration with longtime-partner Breast Cancer Prevention Partners (BCPP) in Washington, D.C. on July 9th and 10th. This was a significant moment for us and other leaders in the clean cosmetics industry as we collectively worked toward making the beauty and personal care industries safer.
Over two days, a formidable team -- which included Badger Co-CEO, Rebecca Hamilton --convened in the nation’s capital to meet with government representatives, senators, and White House officials. This collective effort was to discuss Safer Beauty for All, a suite of five key bills that would eliminate toxic chemicals from products (including PFAS), reduce unsafe cosmetic chemical exposure for vulnerable populations, and establish ingredient transparency as the new industry standard.
• The Toxic-Free Beauty Act bans the worst ingredients from beauty and personal care products.
• The Cosmetic Safety Protections for Communities of Color & Salon Workers Act defends the health of women of color and salon workers.
• The Cosmetic Fragrance and Flavor Ingredients Right to Know Act discloses fragrance and flavor ingredients (already required in CA).
• The Cosmetic Supply Chain Transparency Act promotes transparency in the supply chain, providing cosmetic companies with the information necessary to create safer products.
• The No PFAS in Cosmetics Act bans PFAS from beauty and personal care products.
True to our mission, we believe that everyone should have access to beauty and personal care products that are safe for them and safe for the planet, regardless of where they shop. We are optimistic about the future impact of the Safer Beauty for All bills. We will continue to advocate for their passing while maintaining our commitment to providing safe products for all. 7
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Our Vision
At Badger, we embrace diverse perspectives and lead with transformative action and education to create a positive impact and foster an environment of equity, inclusion, and belonging. We do this through supporting social justice for all, by engaging in the work of advocacy for all people and the planet, and by creating a regenerative future where Badger products contribute to a more equitable and just world.
2024 Achievements
• Released Face and Daily sunscreens formulated for a more diverse range of skin tones
• Provided company-wide training on DEIB topics
• Supported local BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ organizations and events
• Offered events and learning opportunities for all employees through our Social Justice Peer Group
• Accomplished key DEI strategic plan goals and updated our DEI strategic plan to increase actionability of goals
We continue to focus on integrating diversity, equity and inclusion practices into our company culture and policies. In 2024, we incorporated the findings from our Equity Audit (completed in 2023) into our DEI strategic plan. One key development was the hiring of full-time staff to focus on social impact and sustainability, as well as the expansion of our Director of People and Culture’s role to cover DEI initiatives. Additionally, many long-term projects were started in 2024 with plans for completion in 2025. These projects focus on key aspects of Badger’s operations, such as job descriptions, manager trainings, pay equity, and clear, equitable communication.
Goal Highlight
In 2024, we sought to expand our product offerings and create more healing products for all, ensuring our marketing message remains inclusive and promotes a just, equitable world. We were proud to release two new products that align with our DEI goals. Zinc oxide sunscreen products have historically been restrictive, as they do not work well for individuals with melanin rich skin tones. These formulas often leave a white cast on darker skin tones and therefore limit many individuals from using mineral sunscreens. Our two new sunscreens use innovative, patent-pending chemistry to leave virtually no white cast, regardless of skin
Charitable Giving
10% of before tax profits donated to nonprofits.
Over 753 employee hours spend volunteering at local nonprofits & civil organizations
In line with our company principles, Badger donates 10% of before-tax profits or $10,000 (whichever is greater) to non-profit organizations that support health and wellbeing in our communities, as well as to organizations that are aligned with our environmentally sustainable business practices and our commitment to climate action. We also often run campaigns to match donations to specific non-profits. See the 2024 Charitable Donations chart to see where our donations went in 2024.
In 2024, employees logged over 753 hours volunteering for nonprofit boards, local elections, food drives, food pantries, and other nonprofits. We also donated over 180 pounds of fresh organic vegetables from our onsite gardens to the Keene Community Kitchen.
2024 Charitable Donations
Charitable Giving
Charitable Giving Spotlight Monadnock United Way
Every year, Badger supports the Monadnock United Way through a week of fundraising. This group supports nonprofits in our community that address the needs of the region’s children and families. They distribute funds to the organizations they work with and ensure the organizations are delivering on their commitments. Monadnock United Way brings community members together to collaboratively address key needs and find solutions in three critical areas: Children, Education, and Financial Stability.
Badger participated in the 2024 MUW Campaign “Teaming Up for Tomorrow” and raised $13,000 for our community, with over half of our employees making pledges. We also organized fundraising events and activities, such as a bake sale, Bingo, and a raffle drawing that drew in additional funds.
The MUW awarded Badger with the 2024 Summit Award for our successful campaigns over the years. This award is given to “a local company that best-exemplifies commitment to our community through a culture of strong engagement, positive attitude, and demonstration of continued broad-based support for the community and the Monadnock United Way.”
Badger received this award because:
• Our dedication to comprehensive family-friendly policies, unwavering commitment to employee wellness, and dedication to sustainability.
Our employees actively support local non-profits by volunteering their time, as well as grow vegetables in the Badger gardens to donate to the Community Kitchen.
Our commitment to making a positive impact on our local community by supporting many other non-profits and engaging in a thriving workplace campaign for MUW.
Healthy Living Employee Wellness Program
Badger’s Employee Wellness program is essential to our thriving community. This program focuses on our five pillars of health – physical, emotional, financial, environmental, and social health. One of the core parts of our Wellness program is our employee Wellness Fund reimbursement program, which is a Badger-funded and administered employee benefit that supports the general wellbeing of Badger employees. Employees can use their allowance for taxable reimbursements for purchases that might not necessarily be covered by insurance, including supplements, behavioral health appointments, and fitness equipment and gym memberships. In 2024, we provided over $80,000 in reimbursements.
Our famous free organic lunch program continues to be one of our favorite wellness benefits. Our on-site kitchen team, Michelle and Peggy, cook up delicious healthy lunches for all employees five days a week. In 2024, over $7,000 in locally grown produce and locally made products were purchased for our lunch program through local vendors. Additionally, employees can choose to use garden plots at Badger to grow organic produce for themselves.
Family Friendly Workplace
Supporting our employees and their growing families is critical to Badger’s mission and we take great pride in being a family-friendly workplace. Parents can bring their babies to work for the first six months of the child’s life or until they begin to crawl. 2024 marked our 29th ‘Badger Baby’ in our Babies at Work program, and in 2025, we will have our program’s 30th Badger Baby during our 30th anniversary. In addition to the Babies at Work program, employees are eligible for childcare reimbursement. In 2024, we covered over $22,000 in childcare reimbursements for 32 children.
We understand that life comes in seasons, which is why we provide job protection and income for employees caring for themselves or a loved one under the paid Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Employees are provided to care for themselves or a family member experiencing a serious medical event, and new parents receive 200 hours of paid parental leave. In 2024 Badger paid for over 1,145 hours of FMLA time.
Each year, Badger employees come together to support our work community. In 2024, hosted 3 Meal Trains to support employees and their families during an emotional or physical recovery period. We also held over were welcome to attend, such as going away parties, company retreats, food drives, team-building activities, pizza night, baby showers, scavenger hunts, potlucks, ice cream socials, and more.
Environmental Impact
Our Carbon Footprint
We began a multi-year project to measure our environmental impacts in more detail. Following the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol, we measured our scopes 1 and 2 GHG emissions from 2019 through 2024 and began a Scope 3 assessment.
In 2024, we generated 33 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MTCO2e) Scope 1 emissions primarily from propane combustion and refrigerants in our manufacturing facility. In the same year, we generated 128 MTCO2e of location-based Scope 2 emissions and 0 MTCO2e of market-based Scope 2 emissions through renewable energy purchases. To achieve no market-based emissions, we purchased 521 megawatt-hours (MWh) of high quality Green-E certified solar renewable energy credits (RECs) from Bonneville Environmental Foundation. We purchased RECs from BEF’s Sunward program, which allocates additional funds to build renewable energy and solar projects in low-income and tribal communities. In early 2025, we plan to purchase carbon offsets for our 2024 Scope 1 (propane, refrigerants, gasoline), employee commuting, and business travel emissions. In 2023, we purchased 124 MTCO2e offsets that supported pastureland regeneration with Native Palm Silvopasture through fellow B Corp, Native.
Additionally, in 2024, our solar panel array generated 564 MWh of electricity. Our solar panels produce about 8.5% more electricity than Badger consumes throughout the year. Based on our solar array contract, we do not retain RECs for the solar power generated. We therefore purchased additional solar RECs to cover all our electricity consumption.
In 2025, we look forward to measuring our scope 3 emissions using a weight-based assessment and developing a climate action plan to reach our Net Zero emissions goal for Scopes 1, 2 and 3 emissions.
Badger Scopes
1 & 2 Emissions
Water and Waste Impacts
In 2024, we continued to measure our water withdrawal and waste diversion rate at our facility. We reduced our water withdrawal by 6%, primarily through improvements in our manufacturing process. We also maintained an over 90% waste diversion rate in our manufacturing and offices.
Environmental Impact
Our Packaging Footprint
A large part of Badger’s impact on the world is through our packaging. Over the years, we have made great improvements and changes to our packaging. To continue these positive developments, we started a new project to thoroughly measure our total packaging footprint. Through this initiative, we measured the total weight of consumer-facing packaging (bottles made from 2019 through 2024). In 2025, we will begin using this data to help us understand how to best reduce our environmental impacts from packaging, including recyclability and the GHG emissions of our packaging. See below for details on our total packaging breakdown for 2024. The majority of our packaging footprint is from metal (primarily steel and recycled aluminum) from our iconic tins and bug spray packaging. Our next largest packaging type is plastic, which includes all our tube products (sunscreens, lip products, etc.).
Ethical Sourcing
The best ingredients, closer to the source.
Badger believes finding the best ingredients requires getting close to the source. We travel the world to meet the people who grow, harvest, and process the pure organic ingredients we use in our products. Every ingredient is grown and processed with deep respect for the environment, ethical treatment of workers, and preservation of the plants’ natural properties. We prioritize organic, regenerative, biodynamic, and fair-trade ingredients, and all ingredients undergo rigorous environmental and social review to meet our high quality standards. See below for a spotlight on one of our featured ingredients.
Supplier Highlight: Al Amal Women’s Cooperative Argan Oil
Argan oil is an incredible ingredient that contains unique properties that benefit hair and skin. This precious oil comes from the Argan tree, which is endemic to Morocco’s Arganeraie.
Harvesting Argan fruit and processing it into a nourishing oil is a cultural tradition of the indigenous Berber women in rural Southwestern Morocco. Historically, these women would sell the oil in local marketplaces, which resulted in very small profit for them. To help improve their economic conditions and guarantee fairer wages, these women formed the Al Amal Women’s Cooperative. The cooperative allows them to have access to the global market and receive better pay for their skilled labor while creating a community and receiving access to educational opportunities.
The Al Amal Cooperative is also part of the Union des Cooperatives des Femmes de l’Arganeraie (U.C.F.A), an organization that represents the interest of 22 women-led cooperatives in Morocco and helps to continue improving the economic situation of those women.
For over 10 years, Badger has partnered with the Al Amal Women’s Cooperative in southern Morocco through the World Artisan Guild to source most of our Argan oil. As a women-led business, we know the importance of women supporting women, and we will continue to honor the cultural history of Argan oil by sourcing ours directly from the people who have been creating Argan oil for generations.
