Announcing our Climate Neutral Certification
Guess what? We have news to share!
This Earth Day, we hope you are outside enjoying the great outdoors. At Gifts for Good, we are celebrating not only the sunshine and hiking here in Los Angeles, but also the fact that we are Officially Climate Neutral Certified!
The last two years have been challenging for everyone. With all of the heart-breaking things that have transpired, we also cannot forget that climate change is a threat to our humanity and we all need to make changes to stop it. Becoming a Certified Brand—along with over 280 other brands globally—is a months-long effort to measure, offset, and reduce our carbon footprint and do our part to create change.
Why did we do this?
Sustainability and the environment have been part of our DNA since day one, it's even in the name we chose for the company—Gifts for Good. Our mission is to create a better world for people and the planet by giving better gifts that create change in the world.
Globally, we emit almost 60 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases every year. These are the carbon emissions that cause climate change. If we don’t take personal responsibility for this problem now, then there’s no way we’ll hit the climate 2050 goals. We believe in being a good steward of the earth that has been given to us, and offsetting our emissions is part of that stewardship.
How did we do this?
We worked with Climate Neutral (CN), an independent, nonprofit organization that assists brands in measuring their carbon footprint and becoming 100% carbon neutral. As a part of the certification process, we measured our footprint, we offset that footprint, and then we made a plan to reduce our emissions.
We Measured: The team at Climate Neutral used our operational data in order to measure the emissions of business. For 2021 they measured 25 tCO2e.
We Offset: Once our measurement audit was complete, the entire carbon footprint was offset using verified carbon credits. Our offsets were pooled with other small businesses and funded three different projects:
- Project 1: Improved Forest Management in Alaska, USA (Bluesource - Shaan Seet Improved Forest Management Project)
- Project 2: Solar Energy in China
- Project 3: Sispara Wind in India
We Reduced: We have two offset goals for this year:
- We plan to reduce emissions related to employee commuting.
- We plan to reduce upstream shipping emissions by partnering with more Cause Partners with the ability to ship direct to our customers, avoiding the extra shipment to our fulfillment center.
Each year, Gifts for Good will recertify our Climate Neutral Certification in pursuit of a world where businesses do their part to reduce emissions.
FAQ's from Climate Neutral:
What’s a carbon credit?
A carbon credit is a standard unit which represents carbon emission reductions. One credit equals one tCO2e (tCO2e stands for tonnes (t) of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent (e). Developers can create projects that avoid or eliminate greenhouse gas emissions in order to generate and sell carbon credits. In return, brands or individuals who want to offset their emissions can buy carbon credits. Carbon credits are generated through a variety of projects and technologies. Climate Neutral groups carbon credit projects into three main project categories:
- Energy & Industry projects (cookstoves, renewable energy, landfill gas, industrial credits, etc.)
- Natural Climate Solutions projects (forestry, agriculture, blue carbon, soil carbon, etc.)
- Engineered removals (direct carbon capture, mineralization, etc.)
What does tCO2e mean?
There are six main greenhouse gases, and each of these gases impacts global warming with a different intensity. Because of this, it's helpful to convert all gases to a single unit: tCO2e. tCO2e stands for tonnes (t) of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent (e). One tonne is the same as a metric ton, or 2,200 pounds. Carbon dioxide equivalent is a standard unit for counting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions regardless of whether they’re from carbon dioxide or another gas, such as methane.
