SAN DIEGO — As more people start to care about protecting the environment, some companies are calling for radical change in the way businesses operate.

The smell of all the essential oils at the Dr. Bronner’s soap factory always takes Lisa Bronner back to growing up with her grandfather’s famous organic soap.

“The blend of all the essential oils together — so it’s not just peppermint, it’s not just lavender, it’s not the citrus. It’s everything blended together and that might sound like it would be terrible, but it’s not,” Bronner said. “They just work perfectly.”

She is a fifth-generation soap maker and has watched her family’s business move from a tiny apartment in Los Angeles to a large operation in San Diego County.

"This year is 165 years that our family has been making soap," Bronner said. "One family, five generations."

She says Dr. Bronner’s was founded in the 1940s with the goal of making the world better. When the company couldn’t find sustainably sourced palm oil to use in their soap, they created their own supply. Dr. Bronner’s helped develop small organic family farms in Ghana who ethically and sustainably harvest palm fruits without the widespread clear-cutting of the rainforest.

“Organic is about doing no harm, which is good, but regenerative organic is about healing the harm that’s been done," Bronner said. "It’s about rebuilding the land.”

Bronner says this has always been how they operate and she feels encouraged to watch environmental activism grow as companies and consumers change their spending habits.

“Dr. Bronner’s has been doing sustainable business for far longer than I would say anybody has cared about it, but that’s OK,” she laughed. “I want consumers to know that what they do matters.”

According to the "#GetOutInFront" global research report, more than half of survey respondents want organizations to change their practices, and 55% want brands to create awareness around problems such as climate change.

David Hopkins is the manager of the Patagonia store in Cardiff. The outdoor apparel company made headlines last year for transferring ownership of Patagonia to a specially designed trust and a nonprofit organization created to preserve the company’s independence and ensure that all of its profits are used to combat climate change and protect undeveloped land around the globe.

“At the end of the day, you can say that the purchase of one of these T-shirts, it’s not going into someone’s pocket, it’s going into a 501(c)(4) that is actually going to get out there and do the hard work and hopefully making a difference," Hopkins said.

Hopkins says one of his favorite things about working for Patagonia is their commitment to the Earth, which includes selling products like wetsuits and hats that are made out of recycled fishing line from Chile. He says he’s seen more customers buying products like these that fill the demand but don’t harm the Earth.

“There’s no business to be done on a dead planet," Hopkins said. "So we all have to start thinking about this and that hopefully is a new model that will make all of our lives better.”

Bronner hopes how they operate will set an example for other businesses around the globe.

“I hope we’re a trend setter, not because I want the fame, but because I want the trends to change," she said. "I want there to be a new way of doing business. And we’re doing it and so other companies can, too.”

Dr. Bronner’s also helped create sustainable and fair-trade farms of cocoa in Ghana and coconut oil in Sri Lanka.