We’re offsetting our carbon footprint
Here at Orbitkey, we’ve been taking scalable steps to permanently reduce our carbon emissions, and we’re proud to announce that we are now Climate Neutral Certified! We think this is great news and we want to tell you all about it – not to pat ourselves on the back, but to spread the word, and hopefully inspire other brands and individuals alike to #BeClimateNeutral and #BuyClimateNeutral. Getting onboard is not as scary or as complicated as it sounds – we promise!
What does it mean to be Climate Neutral Certified?
Climate Neutral is an independent non-profit organisation that provides tools for companies to:
- Measure their carbon footprint through economic modeling;
- Reduce their emissions by developing and implementing carbon reduction plans;
- Offset their emissions if they cannot be immediately reduced by purchasing carbon credits; and
- Use the label to empower customers to choose brands that choose to pay for their carbon emissions.
What we’re committed to do
This year, we will ensure that at least 50% of our new products will be made from LWG certified leather and recycled fabric materials. Likewise, 80% of our packaging will be produced from recyclable materials. We will also reduce our air freight shipments company-wide by 40%, and at our headquarters in Melbourne, we will reduce our paper and toner emissions by 60%. But we know that this is only the beginning, and we will continue to improve our processes and further reduce our emissions every year. You can click here to view our Climate Neutral Brand Profile.
Why Climate Neutral?
At Orbitkey, we believe in the power of organisation. We also believe in win-win outcomes. As a business, we know we have the energy, appetite and ability to find cleaner, more sustainable ways of doing business. We also understand the power of business to shape culture. Our team committed to becoming Climate Neutral Certified because we understand that it is our responsibility to measure and reduce our own carbon footprint as much as possible. As a product design company, we understand that we share responsibility for how carbon emissions have impacted the environment – hence we have been looking for positive ways to reduce and offset that impact.
Climate Neutral’s Measure, Reduce, Offset methodology really resonates with us internally. It encourages us to dive into the source of the issue, rather than simply ‘pay-and-forget’. While it is harder work, it means that we are making changes to the way we design, produce, ship and operate (among others) that will benefit our business and environment in the long run.
Shout outs!
We know that from a global perspective, our carbon reduction efforts are modest, and we’re certainly not claiming any kind of ‘hero status’ here. We are only one of hundreds of environmentally conscious companies trying to do their bit to improve and promote responsible business practices. In fact, our own sustainability efforts are directly inspired by the teams over at Peak Design and BioLite. So, a big shout out to them, and to all of the other Climate Neutral Certified and Committed brands. Thanks for being awesome!
Get involved
As mentioned earlier, getting onboard to become Climate Neutral Certified is really straight forward and achievable. That’s why there are already 102 brands that have committed to becoming certified by 2020! Companies just need to get in touch with the Climate Neutral team by clicking here.
But of course, sustainability is not just about corporate reduction plans and carbon credit purchases. We know it’s just as important for us as individuals to look at our own lives and find ways to actively reduce the emissions that we are personally responsible for. Our responsibility goes beyond what we do in the office (or wherever we work!) – it’s also about empowering each other to do the same in our normal lives, as much as we can, as often as we can.
As consumers, we can choose to support brands that are taking climate action and doing business for good (by looking for the Climate Neutral label) – or encourage our favourite brands to #BeClimateNeutral.
Together, we can make a difference.
#beclimateneutral #buyclimateneutral
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