From the outset, we have been committed to reducing our impact, and finding innovative new ways to be a more sustainable business. From the day to day operations, through to design, manufacture and end of product lifecycle, businesses are responsible for climate-changing greenhouse gas emissions. These emissions must decrease steeply in order to halt climate change.

That is why a little over a year ago, we set out to fully understand where our carbon impact lies, measure each aspect of the business accurately, and put together a plan on how to reduce our impact as much as possible. When searching for companies to help us, one in particular caught our eye…

Climate Neutral is an independent non-profit organisation that believes every company in the world should know its carbon footprint, and that every company should invest in offsetting and reducing that footprint.

Our business processes can be complex, and it can be difficult to fully understand the effects we are having on the planet. Climate neutral’s innovative measuring tools have allowed us to better understand the the areas of our business that have the most impact. We have then been able to address these areas, set goals and through their verified quality carbon credits, help reduce our emissions and fund innovative climate change solutions. True to our mission of transparency and accountability, Climate neutral have also made this information public to you too.

The carbon impact measurement is a guided process developed around peer-reviewed standards. We measured scopes 1, 2, and upstream Scope 3 emissions (per the Greenhouse Gas Protocol).

Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions represent the entirety of a carbon footprint from a company’s activities.  ‍

• ‍Scope 1 are direct emissions that come from controlled facilities. This can include the fuel you burn in company vehicles, the natural gas you use to heat your office, or any direct emissions from owned manufacturing plants.‍
• Scope 2 are indirect emissions. This is mostly your purchased electricity.
• ‍Scope 3 are indirect emissions from your supply chain – that means emissions released from extracting raw materials used for finished products, corporate business travel, employee commuting, shipping and transporting, and more. In most cases, Scope 3 makes up the majority of a company’s footprint. 

Our impact is 24 tCO2e. You'll notice on the Climate Neutral website that compared with other brands this is quite low. This is because we are still a small company, however we believed that we should be implementing these processes early on in our journey. 

Our impact has been offset using quality carbon credits. Carbon credits are a way of offsetting a business’s carbon footprint by way of supporting environmental projects that are dedicated to extracting carbon from the atmosphere. We chose to support three projects focused on conserving forest ecosystems in Indonesia, Brazil, and the US. Each project is independently verified, ensuring they’re effectively protecting our climate.

Photo credit: Richard Hamilton Smith - Blandin project

But the work doesn't stop there. We must reduce our future emissions to limit climate change. Over the next few months, we'll be hard at work reduce our impact through two main ways:

1. Reduce packaging impact. Do a full redesign, focussing on reducing material, manufacturing locally, designing for transport and ensuring all elements are recyclable and made from recycled material.

2. Reduce manufacturing waste. As we develop our range we will have more emphasis on create products that utilise offcuts from larger items. We will work with our factory team to understand the most efficient way of doing this, and measuring our waste on a bi-monthly basis.

Climate change requires immediate action - there isn't a minute to waste when it comes to decarbonising our planet. Look for the Climate Neutral Certified label every time you shop to support the companies that are taking immediate action on climate change. Tell your favourite companies that you want them to #beclimateneutral and together, we can solve the climate challenge.