Since the start of United By Blue, we’ve always believed that business can (and should) be used for good. After years of proudly operating as a certified B-Corp and living out our one-for-one mission, we’ve decided to take another step toward creating a more sustainable fashion industry by becoming Climate Neutral Certified.

Everything has an impact (even slow fashion). As a consumer brand, our most significant contribution to climate change is our emissions; and in order to call ourselves a truly sustainable business, it’s our responsibility to manage that impact. As a Climate Neutral Certified company, we’re now accountable for offsetting our greenhouse gas emissions and reducing them year over year. 

Here’s a look at the process and what it means for the future of UBB:

1. Measure

Over the past few months we worked with the Climate Neutral organization to do a thorough analysis of all of our 2021 emissions, including everything from product manufacturing to employee commutes. In alignment with global greenhouse gas accounting protocols, we measured our emissions across all three scopes. Here’s what the categories included for our business:

 

Scope 1: Emissions that we own and control

Company-owned vehicles
Kitchen appliances
Office and store energy consumption

Scope 2: Emissions that we control but don’t own

• Store and office electricity usage

Scope 3: Emissions that we cause, but don’t own or control (the majority of our emissions)

• Purchased goods: emissions from our specific material selections and product development process
• Capital goods: emissions from machinery, equipment, and hard goods purchased
• Upstream shipping: Emissions from transportation and distribution of our products and raw materials from our suppliers to UBB facilities
• Downstream shipping: emissions from transportation and distribution of our products from UBB facilities to our customers
• Business travel
• Employee commutes

2. Offset

Once measured, we fully offset all 10,089 metric tonnes of our 2021 emissions – this is the “going neutral” part of Climate Neutral. To do this, we purchased verified, direct, and retired (meaning they can’t be double-counted) carbon offset credits through the Bonneville Environmental Foundation for the following projects:

Climate Neutral and United By Blue require carbon offset credits to be verified by an internationally recognized carbon credit verifier. The role of these independent, third-party organizations is to evaluate the credibility and effectiveness of the carbon credits, and ensure there are no quality issues, double-counting, and that the emissions have genuinely been sequestered or avoided due to the carbon offset project. Our carbon credit verifiers for these three projects are Verified Carbon Standard (Guyan and Agrocortex), and Gold Standard (Mersin). Essentially, these organizations ensure that our carbon credits are real, measurable, and permanent.

3. Reduce

Neutralizing our emissions is great, but the work doesn’t stop there. Moving forward, we’ll be following a Science-Aligned Reduction Action Plan to reduce our emissions by 6.25% year-over-year until 2030 – aligning us with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5 degree warming scenario. Specifically, our two main focus areas for reducing our footprint are overseas shipments and store energy and electricity. 

In addition, anything in our business that contributes to carbon in the atmosphere (like getting your orders safely to your door) will continue to be measured and offset with verified credits. 

Fashion as a force for good

As a clothing brand, we don’t take our environmental responsibility lightly. We’ve always held the philosophy that change comes in waves, and we’re thrilled to be taking this step towards greater sustainability and transparency in an industry that too often lacks it. Here’s to better business.