The Power of B Corp™ Certification

Certified B Corporations™ are at the forefront of a global movement that advocates for businesses to be a force for good. B Lab, the nonprofit organization behind the certification, sets rigorous standards, policies, and programs to encourage an inclusive, equitable, and regenerative economy. Being a B Corporation™ means that the company meets high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability and it also means it has to go through the B Impact Assessment which is a comprehensive 250-question survey covering five impact areas — Governance, Workers, Community, Environment, and Customer. The company is required to provide evidence supporting every single claim in order to validate them and achieve a score of 80 or above.

In the Governance Pillar, B Corp™ thoroughly examines the company's overarching mission, ethics, accountability, transparency, and how they embed their vision and values into their bylaws. Within the Workers Pillar, they assess the business's efforts to generate positive outcomes for their workforce. The Customers Pillar revolves around how a company serves its customers, providing products or services that contribute to the greater good. The Environment Pillar delves into the company's efforts to create a more sustainable and regenerative planet by minimizing their ecological footprint and prioritizing their impact on the air, climate, water, land, and biodiversity in their business operations. Lastly, the Community Pillar focuses on how a business contributes to the economic and social well-being of the communities in which it operates.

The Journey to Certification

It has been a two-year long and confronting journey for the whole team that showed incredible resilience and commitment to achieve this milestone, and the process itself has already helped us improve how we’re doing business. Seeking B Corp™ certification was just a no-brainer for Goodnature. Pest control is undoubtedly a challenging industry trying to solve an age-old problem, but it is essential to address it responsibly. Our commitment to solving rodent infestation issues with humane and innovative methods perfectly aligns with the B Corp™ values.

“The B Corp™ process is a ruthless assessment of a company’s environmental and social impact on the world. Becoming a B Corp™ is tough and it should be tough. It’s even tougher when you kill things for a living - no matter how humanely you deal with it. You need to go the extra mile to prove you’re doing the right thing and you’re doing it right.” says Impact Lead, Charlotte Velut.

Paving the Way for Change

Rodents are bad news for people and the planet, in areas where they don’t belong. They destroy crops, harm wildlife, spread diseases, and devastate ecosystems. But traditional methods used to tackle this problem, such as toxins, single-use traps, and glue boards, are even worse. They’re high-maintenance, inhumane and have a negative impact on the very environment we are trying to protect. Shockingly, this year has seen more toxins and throwaway traps than ever before. That’s why it’s urgent to use business as a force for good and implement lasting changes that create positive ripple effects.

Our CEO, Dave Shoemack adds “If all people care about is killing as many pests as possible, as quickly as possible, we’ll never move beyond cheap throwaway traps and dangerous toxins. We want to show people that pest control isn’t just about killing pests - it’s also this incredible tool for rebalancing biodiversity. The trick is to kill the pest, without harming anything else.”

Looking Ahead

Since 2005, we’ve placed half a million traps in the hands of conservationists, professionals, and homeowners, and humanely removed 22 million pests worldwide. Our positive impact through our products speaks for itself, but our aspirations go even further.

“When Goodnature was born in the New Zealand bush back in 2005, it was from the realisation that keeping rodent populations in check would require something far smarter, scalable and kinder. We want to make pest control a force for good, by creating tools and methods that do the hard work, sharing them with as many people as possible. We’ll know we’re doing our job right when we start to see a shift in our customers’ relationships with nature - from taking or controlling nature, to caring and working with it” says Craig Bond, Goodnature’s co-founder.

With the B Corp™ framework guiding our path going forward, we are excited to embark on this journey of continuous improvement to become a better business that values people and the planet as much as profits, while paving the way for better trapping practices.

This journey is an exciting one, and after a few days of celebration, we're eager to get back to work! Follow along as we work towards recertification in three years, navigating through challenges and wins, placing more innovative traps in farms, forests and backyards, rewilding the world one trap at a time.