Being Climate Neutral -An interview with our Co-Founder Toby ahead of World Environment Day
Ahead of World Environment Day this weekend, we wanted to share an interview with our co-founder Toby, on the importance of being Climate Neutral certified and how we can all do our bit to be more environmentally sustainable in the long run.
What does it mean to be climate neutral for your brand?
It's important because when people see the Climate Neutral certificate on our yoga mat packaging it shows we really are as green as we say! It's fantastic that more and more companies are now thinking about their environmental impact and taking steps to improve! With lots of greenwashing around, it's important to have a third party verifying that a company is as sustainable as they claim to be.
With the obvious importance of limiting carbon emissions and protecting the environment, why is it vital for brands to become climate neutral at this time?
Everyone understands the clock is ticking when it comes to the environment, and the more we can all do to reduce our environmental impact, the better. Being Climate Neutral certified is one step towards that goal as carbon has such a vast number of impacts on the environment. We encourage consumers and other companies to also consider things like the materials they use in the products and packaging - where have the materials come from and where do they end up at the end of life? At Form we only use recycled materials which are either recyclable or biodegradable - one of our mats can be buried in the ground at the end of life, leaving no trace behind!
Has COVID-19 affected your brand's ability to be Climate Neutral?
No - we're a largely online company so it hasn't affected us too much thankfully
Why did your brand choose to achieve this certification through Climate Neutral?
We liked Climate Neutral's simple transparency - it's a really important factor to ensure companies and customers alike can understand how carbon is calculated and offset, and the impact this has.
What has your pathway to net-zero been like? How has that decision affected your brand and overall experience with consumers?
Becoming a carbon-negative, or even net zero company comes with a few changes and not all of them are easy! For us, the 'Reduce' part of Climate Neutral's approach is certainly the most challenging aspect of the certification but equally important as the offsetting.
After all, it's important that we tackle the emissions of carbon in the first place, rather than relying solely on offsetting the emitted carbon. This reduction commitment has encouraged us to rethink our supply chains - thinking about how we can reduce the distance travelled by our mats before they reach the end customer with localised warehouses rather than just relying on the single site in England. This is not only good for the environment, but great for the customer experience too so is a win-win!
How can consumers use their purchasing power to support sustainability through your brand? What does this ultimately mean for consumers?
At the end of the day, we believe that you vote with your money. So we recommend that everyone considers the environmental aspect of every purchase they make. By consistently purchasing from sustainable companies, we indicate to all companies that this is what we expect from the organisations we give our money to. If enough people make this commitment, sustainability will become the standard not the exception as it sadly still is today.
Do you have any tips for readers or consumers interested in making a change for a more sustainable lifestyle?
Think about sustainable changes you can make in all parts of your life: do you purchase your household energy from green retailers, do you avoid single use plastics, are there more sustainable travel options you can take. We have variety of articles on our blog about little changes that you can make that can have a huge impact on the environment.
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