Best for the World for Environment, Carbon Neutral Certification & what that means to rePlated
Our business makes a net positive impact on carbon emissions through our products and their use. If each container is used just once a week (and we know most of our customers use them a lot more), when compared to compostables, we will help save 7T (tonnes) of carbon this year.
We were also rated in the top 5% for BCorps globally when we certified last year and we are delighted to share that we have maintained this for 2022 (wahoo!).
We are very proud to be rated the best in world for environment by BCorp and the reasons why are because we have:
an impact business model
our products are fully circular
our products are made from recycled materials
our products are recyclable.
However, we are always looking at ways to be better and we are proud to share that we are now also officially a fully climate neutral brand.
This is because we have partnered with Our Trace. Our Trace are an Australian company that help businesses become carbon neutral. They support best in class projects that not only make our carbon footprint neutral but also try to positively reduce carbon emissions.
This means that all of the carbon we create during the production of our products, the running of our business, and by using other companies services is accounted for. These are what are called ‘upstream scope 3 emissions’.
This helped us work out that our manufacture and operations generate 5T carbon a year - which we fully offset.
So, if we are recognised by BCorp as being awesome environmentally, why are we offsetting - that’s a lazy option right?
Well, as with all things environmental, it’s not that simple. Yes, carbon offsetting is absolutely a last resort, but actually it’s virtually impossible to produce zero carbon emission, particularly when you work with third parties (which we do).
Additionally, when working out our total emissions, the current measuring system does not take into consideration our ‘downsteam emissions impact’ (that’s the 7T of carbon saved by using our product we mentioned earlier). If it did, we would be a minimum of 2T carbon positive.
In every aspect of our business we aim for reuse and circularity - for example:
We help others reduce their carbon footprint by reducing the amount of single-use containers and packaging they use
We use recycled and recyclable materials almost exclusively for our reusable product - a takeaway food container we call the Mealbox, (The only exception is our gasket, the seal for our Mealboxes, which is made from virgin materials and we continue to work on a recycled solution)
We take back our products at end of life to transform into new products
When we send out corporate orders we reuse the packaging generated by our manufacturing process
We use ONLY compostable tapes, stickers and labels
We use an awesome thermal printer so we don’t rely on ink cartridges wherever we can and do not need this single-use item in our fulfillment
We prioritise reduction/neutrality and whenever a partner has a neutral option we opt for them for example - Australia Post and Sendle are our sending partners.
But these operational efficiencies only do so much which is why we offset the rest and are always looking for new and innovative ways to do more.
We are proud to partner with Our Trace for our Carbon Neutral Certification for a number of reasons. Rather than planting trees (although there are projects that do that, and there is for sure a place for it) they’ve worked to partner with projects making meaningful positive change for climate - so rather than aiming for net zero, they want to go beyond that towards a truly cleaner, greener future. As a female founded business we are also proud to support another female founded business as we (both) grow.