On this 50th Anniversary of Earth Day, we’re excited to announce that we are officially Climate Neutral Certified! We worked closely with Climate Neutral to measure and offset our entire carbon footprint, as well as make changes in the studio to reduce our emissions moving forward. You can find our official report here.
We’re really excited about this because, until now, measuring and offsetting the carbon footprint of any business has been a cost-prohibitive process (we're talking tens of thousands of dollars). But Climate Neutral has made the process accessible to small businesses, and we’re proud to be one of the 102 brands that are now Climate Neutral Certified.
Keep an eye out for this certification when you shop. You’ll see more and more brands carry this mark in the coming years (much like organic produce labeling). See all participating brands here.
THE PROCESS:
1. Measure
We used our operational data from 2019 to estimate our carbon footprint for the year, which was 26 tCO2e.
2. Offset
Our entire carbon footprint was offset using verified carbon credits, totaling $91.00. These credits directly support a variety of projects, ranging from reforestation initiatives that sequester CO2, to micro-grid solar projects which substitute fossil fuel-based energy production with reliable clean sources of energy. Find out more about the different types of projects at climateneutral.org.
3. Reduce
We evaluated our studio practices to reduce emissions from within our own studio, including:
- We intentionally source paper from the French Paper Company. Aside from being a small, family owner paper supplier, they also produce their paper with river-powered hydroelectric energy, and most of the papers we use from them are either recycled or FSC Certified.
- We have changed all possible shipping supplies to be recycled, paper-based materials (rather than plastic). Paper padding rather than bubble wrap or styrofoam. Kraft paper rather than plastic bags.
4. Label
To communicate our values to our customers, we will be using the Climate Neutral Certified mark on our branding and packaging.
Here at Native Maps, we are grateful to have a very small footprint to begin with. We're a small team, and we print and ship everything out of our studio in Knoxville, TN. We have always sourced responsibly-made paper and chosen earth-friendly printing methods (no VOCs). Partnering with Climate Neutral has given us the chance to step back and look at every aspect of our business, from plastic tape substitutes to what papers we offer. We've notices that a few small changes can make for much less waste. We're excited to put these efforts in place now and revisit our certification yearly so that as we grow, our carbon footprint will shrink.
