Sustainability at Heath

Sustainability
at Heath

In 1948, Edith Heath developed a unique clay body—still in use today—that could be fired at lower-than-standard temperatures. This early innovation set a high standard for sustainability at Heath, and it continues to guide our practices today, from the way we run our factories to the way we approach employee wellbeing.

Safeguarding the planet and its people has always been a priority at Heath, and achievements like earning our B Corp, California Green Business, and Declare certifications tell us that we’re on the right path.

1/6 Energy
2/6 Waste
3/6 Water
4/6 Shipping
5/6 Community
6/6 Employees

Steps to Sustainability

1/6

Energy

Heath’s factories are powered by 100% renewable wind and solar energy, require no heating or cooling, and are lit by efficient LED bulbs. The adoption of renewable electricity reduced our utility carbon footprint by 18% in 2023. Heath tiles are also certified by Declare for chemical transparency, making them a good fit for LEED, WELL, and Living Building Certified buildings.

Read our Annual Benefit Report

2/6

Waste

Heath has significantly reduced landfill waste with innovative end uses for waste streams, including donating tile production overrun, composting unusable clay, and recycling nitrile plastic gloves and fired clay waste. Usable clay, as pictured, is reused in the production process, and our products contain about 30% pre-consumer recycled clay. As of 2023, waste diversion from the landfill stands at 86%.

3/6

Water

Both our Sausalito and San Francisco factories use custom-built water recycling systems that collect manufacturing wastewater for reuse for clay-making and cleaning. As of 2023, 55% of our annual water use is from internally recycled water.

4/6

Shipping

All dinnerware and Heath Home purchases are packed with ExpandOS\u2122—an innovative paperboard material that’s biodegradable and recyclable—and delivered via UPS Carbon Neutral shipping. Since 2022, these efforts offset 220 metric tons of CO\u2082.

Our Shipping Philosophy

5/6

Community

Through events like our annual Day of Service, partnerships with organizations like SFMade and The Edible Schoolyard Project, and creative stewardship under the Heath Collective banner, we strive to be a positive presence in each of the communities we serve.

6/6

Employees

Supporting employees’ safety, financial security, and wellbeing is central to Heath’s mission. We offer our full-time employees retirement and healthcare benefits, our production and shipping teams are unionized, and in 2020 we rolled out a Living Wage Initiative to expand benefits and increase wages.

Learn more about the Living Wage Initiative