Company Background

Planet was founded in 1989 by Stefan Jacob, who at the time, was living on a small island near Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. As a commercial fisherman, Stefan was gravely concerned about the ever increasing pollution of our water and soil. Unlike most of us, Stefan decided to act on his concerns and, with the help of several like-minded friends, launched a company committed to developing and selling environmentally friendly products. Today, Planet Inc. is one of the largest manufacturers of environmentally friendly household products in North America.

The name Planet was arrived at when a child of one of the founding partners suggested that it would be a great name for a company that genuinely cared about the environment.

Planet worked closely with an environmental chemist to develop truly non-polluting household cleaning products. When Scientific Certification Systems established their program for certifying environmental claims, Planet was one of the first companies to work with them to ensure that our products met the highest possible standards.

Planet started selling its liquid laundry detergent, dishwashing liquid and all-purpose spray cleaners in 1990, mainly through supermarkets in California. Since that time, we have added a powdered laundry detergent, a delicate laundry wash and recycled paper items to our product line. We have expanded our distribution to supermarkets in some other regions and have become successful in health food stores across the country. Today, Planet is growing steadily among the Goliaths of the household cleaning industry, even though we are still a small independent company.

Company Philosophy

At Planet, we believe that we all have a responsibility for the preservation of the earth, not just as individuals, but as companies and government bodies as well. That is why Planet is committed to the concept that companies must become part of the environmental solution. We do our part by practicing such things as producing environmentally friendly products, recycling, reducing resource consumption, reusing materials and using recyclable packaging with our products. We believe that other companies should practice such things as well, even if profits are a little lower as a result. It's all part of being socially responsible!

Companies can also do their part for the environment by helping to fund the activities of non-profit organizations that focus all of their skills and energies on environmental issues. Planet makes annual donations to such groups, including Earthjustice (formerly Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund), which fills an important role by taking on environmental issues that are best fought through legal avenues, and River Network, which protects and restores our rivers and their watersheds.

Finally, we strongly believe that environmental claims for products need to be certified by independent, scientifically respected organizations such as Scientific Certification Systems and the Environmental Choice Program. Manufacturers often make claims regarding environmental qualities of their products, claims that do not stand up to careful examination. The only way to ensure that such claims are evaluated fairly, using standards that are as high as they can be, is to have them independently certified.