Our decision to make shipping carbon neutral

We’re so excited to announce that all of our shipping (from the factory all the way to you) is now completely carbon neutral. Why’d we do it? Well, because we think it’s the right thing to do. We’ve always said that our goal is to do the most good – whether it be for people or for the planet. This is the next step in that journey.

First thing’s first. What does it mean to be carbon neutral?

Essentially, it means that we pay for carbon offsets that are equal to the carbon we produce so that there are no net carbon emissions into the atmosphere.

This past year, we embarked on a lengthy LCA, or Life Cycle Assessment. We worked with a specialist sustainability firm to estimate how much CO2 is released into the atmosphere because of our products (manufacturing them, shipping them, etc). Then, we looked into various carbon offset programmes and chose one based on its sustainability, scalability and innovation. We decided to go with an offset broker called Pachama.

So you’re still emitting carbon?

Yes, we are. We know it’s confusing.

Let’s put it this way, our carbon emissions are like a balloon that’s filled with water. Use too much water, and the balloon will pop. We can’t stop our tap from pouring, so instead we “offset” overfilling by drawing the water out in another way - maybe with a quick slurp.

The problem is, the balloon was already too full to begin with and the rest of the world is filling it at the same time as we are. It would be much better if we could all stop filling it too much, and actually all take a few slurps out while we’re at it. But for now, we’re just trying to keep the balloon intact.

I’ve heard that offsets aren’t that great.

Are they perfect? No, definitely not. We all need to reduce the total amount of carbon going out into the world, not just net it down to zero. But it’s an important start, and we’re still super excited about the impact that forest protection has and the influence offsets could have on businesses.

Imagine if every company offset their emissions – the demand for offsets would far exceed the supply. In turn, the cost per offset would be so high that it would actually be cheaper to curb emissions directly. We want to be part of building that demand now rather than waiting until curbs are mandatory for everyone. Plus, we believe that offsets have a real impact and are a hell of a lot better than doing nothing. For us, they’re part of the solution which is why we’re advocating they go hand in hand with strategies to reduce emissions directly as well.

You’re still looking into directly reducing emissions?

Yes, of course! We’re thrilled to be investing in offsets as a supplement to our overarching sustainability initiatives. We’re currently implementing renewable energy in several parts of our supply chain and are working on delivery processes to minimise carbon emissions. We’ll have more to share as these initiatives progress!

This is exciting! Can I hear more about the offsets?

Yes, it is! And you can! We’ve done a lot (we mean a lot) of research and we’re super happy to be teaming up with Pachama to protect old growth rainforest in the Peruvian Amazon. It’s a really cool project called the Brazil Nut Concession Forest Conservation Project, which protects more than 291,566 hectares of tropical forest in Peru and will prevent 14.5 million tons of CO2 emissions! This project is made up of 143 parcels of land operated by 377 Brazil nut farmers. You can see the incredible impact these preservation efforts have on the forest via this satellite video:

The dark green bits represent deforestation. And in carbon terms, deforestation equals lots of emissions. You can see that the project’s boundaries do not show evidence of deforestation, even as it accelerates in the surrounding areas. It’s pretty amazing.

We couldn’t be happier about this next step in our journey and we can’t wait to bring you along for whatever comes next!

An update: In great news for both the project and the planet, the Brazil Nut Concessions has now sold all of its available offsets! As a result, we’ve shifted our attention (and offsetting) to a new project - specifically, Agrocortex in Brazil and Central Kalimantan Peatlands in Indonesia. The Agrocortex project protects an area of untouched rainforest in Brazil’s most biodiverse region from deforestation. The Central Kalimantan Peatlands project is awesome - it aims to reduce Indonesia’s emissions by preserving 15,091 hectares of tropical peat swamp forests (home to creatures like the endangered Bornean orangutan).

Our projects supported to date: