Our commitment to the planet – and you.
The first step of our sustainability mission was to measure where we’re at today: our carbon footprint. A carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide and methane, that are generated by our actions; expressed as CO2. Greenhouse gases can be emitted through the burning of fossil fuels, land clearance, and the production and consumption of food, manufactured goods, materials, wood, roads, buildings, transportation, and other services.
We worked with GreenFeet to track, measure and manage our carbon emissions to reduce our output and improve sustainability. Here’s how we calculated our corporate emissions by category:
50.3% products
From ingredients like toffee and birthday sprinkles to packaging like gift boxes and beautiful bar wraps, half of our footprint is due to ingredients and packaging. This number factors in the making of all of our ingredients, including those made by external partners.
24.2% shipping
A large portion of our carbon footprint is also due to shipping, whether that be incoming shipments of ingredients or packaging, or the chocolate we’re sending out to retail stores or your doorstep!
13.3% refrigerants
A fun fact about chocolate? It melts. Our bars and truffles go through a cooling tunnel as they’re made, and they also need to be stored at a slightly cool temperature before they make their way to you.
6.7% electricity
This includes all the electricity it takes to run our factory – though we do it as green as we can!
2.0% heat
We use natural gas to heat our factory and office when needed.
1.9% waste
We’re always working to get our waste as low as possible! Currently at less than 2%, this number includes recycle diversion, compost diversion, and any general waste that goes to the landfill.
1.6% commute
This includes all of our employees’ commutes to work, whether they take a car, bus, or bicycle.
There are only two ways to manage the greenhouse gas effect: reduce the amount of new emissions into the atmosphere (mitigation), and remove the past emissions (carbon removal).
Because we manufacture a product and send it all around the country, it is virtually impossible to reduce our carbon emissions to zero - and mitigation alone cannot reverse climate change. So we purchase carbon offsets through projects that reduce carbon emissions and remove carbon from the atmosphere. We became officially carbon neutral when our offset credits purchased became equal to our CO2 footprint.
Carbon Removal by Regenerative Agriculture with Nori
Nori is a Seattle based company that is focused on carbon removal from the atmosphere and helping in reversing climate change through regenerative agriculture. Our donations go directly to farmers practicing regenerative agriculture. Click here to learn more!
Carbon Removal Through Integrated Forest Management with Cool Effect
Cool Effect is a California based organization that works on carbon removal projects all over the world. We donate to their Klamath East Improved Forest Management project in Oregon to protect the forests. Click here to learn more!
Carbon Avoidance by Forest Management and Protecting Rainforests with Moss Earth
We donate to Moss’s Madre de Dios project in Peru, which is working to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation. Click here to learn more!
It’s important that we all do our part to address climate change, and we’re committed to being as transparent as possible on our progress.
Our sustainability pledges are:
- Become carbon neutral in 2022 (done!)
- Reduce carbon footprint by 10% each year
- Become carbon negative by 2024
- Achieve a zero-waste certification by 2030
Follow along our sustainability journey on our social channels: @seattlechoc and @jcocochocolate
read the full report
