Did you know approximately a garbage truck’s worth of clothes are burned or dumped into a landfill every second? We didn’t either, but now we do after attending an Earth Day event hosted by our Corporate Green Team!
During the event, employees could learn more about sustainability-related topics, donate used items to a local Humane Society, grab a free native Missouri tree and other goodies, and enter to win a gift basket with sustainable items.
Check out some photos from the event below!
Did you know we have seven onsite solar installations across Europe and China – and we’re adding solar panels to three additional sites this year?
We know that prioritizing sustainability – like installing solar panels – isn’t just good for business. It’s good for people and our planet. Every day, we strive to advance sustainable solutions for our customers, reduce environmental impacts of our products across their lifecycle, and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
At L&P, our mission is to build businesses and a culture that are sustainable for generations to come. We recently published our 2025 Sustainability Progress Report, which summarizes our progress towards the sustainability opportunities that are most important to our business.
As we remain committed to driving long-term value for our employees, customers, suppliers, and investors, we continue to focus on five pillars that will guide our sustainability strategy through 2030 and beyond:
Thank you for your ongoing dedication and support as we continue to build on our sustainability practices! You can read our 2025 Sustainability Progress Report here.
In celebration of Earth Month and to raise awareness of sustainable practices, we asked employees to capture the beauty and significance of sustainability through their camera lens and share their photos with us. We received so many wonderful submissions, and chose four that spoke to our sustainability mission and will be published in this year’s sustainability report. Congratulations!
In addition, we want to share a few more of the outstanding submissions we received.
Thank you to everyone who shared their sustainability photos and celebrated Earth Month at L&P!
April 22 is Earth Day!
Looking for easy ways to help create a more sustainable future? In honor of Earth Day, our L&P Sustainability team shared a few ideas:
🔋Unplug chargers after use. Phone, laptop, tablet, and other charging cables still draw power, even when devices aren’t connected.
– Justine Kimbel, Sustainability Coordinator
💧Wash clothes in cold water and take meat off the menu one or two days per week.
– Barry Haubner, Energy Manager
🚲 For a few days per week, consider walking, biking, or taking public transportation instead of driving.
– Alex Delmore, Sustainability Intern
🍎 Purchase in-season produce at the grocery store and turn off the sink while brushing teeth.
– Melanie Koenig, ESG Governance Specialist
🌱 Plant native or adaptive plants that need less water and compost your food scraps.
– Tamara Cook, Sustainability Director
At L&P, our mission is to build businesses and a culture that are sustainable for generations to come, and Barry Haubner, Energy Manager, is helping us do just that!
After graduating college, Barry’s first job involved scheduling natural gas for one of the first deregulated natural gas suppliers. From there, he discovered energy consulting and focused on helping clients use less energy and spend less on energy.
Barry joined L&P in October of 2024 and has been helping our businesses with energy management since. We asked Barry to share about his role at L&P and how he incorporates sustainability into his personal life.
Tell us about your role.
I help our branches with all things energy – everything from helping our branches purchase their energy, reviewing renewable energy proposals, calculating energy efficiency savings, and working with local utilities to ensure our branches are on the lowest cost tariff rates.
Our Sustainability team is also working on a decarbonization plan. I am constantly surprised at how many different areas our team supports L&P’s operations. It seems like I learn about a new one every week.
What do you find most rewarding about your role?
Helping. It is so rewarding to have the experience and background to help our branches navigate the murky waters of energy management.
How do you incorporate sustainable practices in your own life?
I use a water bottle, buy local as much as possible, grow a garden, compost food waste, and we make our own cleaning products.
Thank you, Barry, for your dedication to sustainability in your personal life and Leggett & Platt!
At L&P, our mission is to build businesses and a culture that are sustainable for generations to come, and Melanie Koenig, our ESG Governance Specialist, is helping us do just that.
Melanie joined Leggett & Platt in September 2024, bringing over five years of experience in the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) industry. She began her career focusing on corporate philanthropy and the social aspects of ESG, before advancing into environmental and governance roles within manufacturing and B2B businesses. Melanie’s lifelong love of nature inspired her to pursue a career in Sustainability.
Tell us about your role.
I work closely with Legal Compliance and our individual branches to ensure L&P complies with ESG and sustainability regulations worldwide. I also manage our internal sustainability reporting software and support important projects such as our annual Sustainability Report and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions Inventory.
What do you find most rewarding about your job?
I enjoy supporting our branches and helping them achieve their sustainability goals, as well as celebrating the progress we make as a company moving forward and expanding our sustainability programming.
Can you share any of the team’s recent milestones?
This year, we launched our first Water, Waste, and Scope 3 Inventories and increased our score on the 2024 S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA).
How do you incorporate sustainable practices in your own life?
I love shopping at my local farmer’s market, planting native flowers and plants in my yard, and washing my clothes with cold water and air-drying them, when possible, to conserve electricity.
Thank you, Melanie, for your dedication to sustainability in your personal life and Leggett & Platt!
April is Earth Month! 🌍
At L&P, we recognize our responsibility to be good stewards of the environment and to build sustainable businesses for generations to come.
We know that prioritizing sustainability isn’t just good for business – it’s good for people and our planet. Every day, we strive to advance sustainable solutions for our customers, reduce environmental impacts of our products across their lifecycle, and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
To celebrate Earth Month, we’ll be sharing more about Sustainability at L&P in the coming weeks.
This past Christmas, our team in Guangzhou – Branch 0585 – dedicated their day to making a difference by cleaning up a local beach.
We’re proud of our team for prioritizing care for one another, their community, and the environment!
Check out some of the photos from their cleanup event below.
As a modern manufacturer, we strive to minimize the environmental impacts of our products across their lifecycle. Our product sustainability goals include:
Here is some of the progress we’ve made within our businesses toward these goals.
Sustainable Innovation in Product Design
Our Adjustable Bed business redesigned an adjustable bed base that is lighter and more compact than the previous model. This new design results in the reduction of container and truck shipments annually, leading to potential fuel and emissions reductions during the transportation of the product to customers.
Responsible Use of Raw Materials
In our Automotive business, post consumer-grade recycled nylon and plastic are used to manufacture components. In addition, an operation in our Work Furniture business uses more than 400 tons of 100% post-consumer plastics and post-industrial waste each year to create high-quality structural components.
Chemical Management Programs
In 2023, we reviewed technology solutions that would enable the development of an enhanced database to track chemicals more efficiently and to improve and inform decision-making processes related to chemical management in our businesses.
To learn more about our commitment to sustainability in our manufacturing facilities, visit our website and download our Sustainability Report.