White broccoli. That’s what Julian Stapleton thought cauliflower was called when he was growing up. The kids in his family liked to eat broccoli, but they questioned cauliflower. So it became known as white broccoli.
“Yeah, my mom jokes with me about all of the trendy cauliflower foods today. When I was a little kid, that’s all we ate. Fresh foods like broccoli, cauliflower and tomatoes out of the garden.”
Julian’s grandparents were first generation Italian immigrants. They had a huge garden for the purpose of growing food, and Julian attributes his green thumb to them.
“I remember my grandmother picking figs right off the tree and handing them to me. I just ate them. Fresh foods and sustainability have always kind of just been in my blood. Today, my favorite all-time snack is still fresh tomatoes with balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper.”
Fast forward to today. Julian, who’s been with our company since 2016, is a leader of Scotts Associates for a Greener Earth (SAGE), our newest employee resource group (formerly known as The Green Team) that works to empower other associates to grow a sustainable future for themselves, our company and our community. It’s a chance for Julian to share his passion for the earth and sustainability throughout our organization.
“It gives me an outlet to geek out on being green. But way more importantly, SAGE is a group that is making a positive difference and helping improve the sustainability of our company. I’m able to collaborate with coworkers who are leading our environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives and contribute meaningful ideas to the whole organization.”
Even though his day job is in product stewardship, Julian has found an outlet in SAGE where he can harness his passion and use it to drive continuous improvement for the company. Part of SAGE’s mission is to educate others to bring about positive change for the earth. Julian likes talking to others about sustainable living, but he knows action is much more important than words.
“It’s on brand for companies to care about sustainability. It shows up everywhere in my social feed, and I get it. But I see how ScottsMiracle-Gro does things, how we react to things, how we try every day to be a good company. It makes me feel proud.”
From learning about the earth as a little boy with his family to sharing that sustainability passion with his work family, Julian exemplifies that our purpose––to GroMoreGood everywhere––is more than just words. It’s real action that we’re taking every day.
