Dr. Bronner's, family-owned maker of the top-selling natural soap brand, will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony to unveil the company's new solar power project, on Friday September 29, from 8:30am—9:30am at factory headquarters in Vista, California.

The ribbon cutting will take place at 9:00am, with presentations by Dr. Bronner's Strategic Advisor & CSR Manager Kris Lin-Bronner, Vista Mayor Judy Ritter, and special guests from Heliopower and Ecology Artisans. Attendees are invited to join a Garden Talk after the ceremony, to learn about drought-tolerant landscaping, and tour the Dr. Bronner's soap factory.

"Our new 346 kilowatt solar power system will generate 572,000 kilowatt hours of electricity, accommodating about 50% of Dr. Bronner's factory headquarters needs on an annual basis," says Dr. Bronner's Strategic Advisor & CSR Manager, Kris Lin-Bronner. "Our new permaculture designed drought-tolerant garden will also eliminate the need for any irrigation for 27,000 square feet of newly landscaped areas—saving more than 600,000 gallons of water annually, enough for 100 people to take a shower each day for a whole year."

Bringing The Founder's Mission to Life

The solar power project is a concrete example of Dr. Bronner's company vision for sustainability, which is inspired by the philosophy of company founder, Emanuel Bronner.

Watch this video of Emanuel Bronner, founder of Dr. Bronner's. He talks about his vision for a solar-power-fueled world. It was filmed in 1986. 

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Dr. Bronner's began researching how to construct an on-site solar generated electricity system in 2013, and soon realized that the factory building could not hold solar panels on its roof. In response to this architectural challenge, the company pursued a solar design project that would utilize all buildable areas surrounding the building, including carport structures and steel beams mounted above the loading dock.

The design also incorporates landscaping under the solar structures that integrates water conservation techniques and regenerative organic agricultural practices. This new landscaping replaces the water and chemical intensive grass lawns and bushes previously in place when Dr. Bronner's purchased the building, and instead features indigenous drought tolerant plants and bio-swells that will channel more than 660,000 gallons of rain water into the landscape each year.