Brands Making a Difference | 10 Sustainable Criteria

Brands Making a Difference is a new section of our website

In this new space we analyse brands -by categories- according to 10 sustainability criteria:

1. Carbon Footprint
2. Ecological Impact
3. Energy Consumption
4. Freight Density
5. Recycling Rates
6. Saving Levels
7. Specific Product Monitoring
8. Supply Chain Waste
9. Sustainability Scorecards
10. Water Management

Our intention is that we can make more conscious decisions about what we consume, seeing in each brand what it meets and what it is still not achieving.

Then, we leave space for you to comment and even put your own ranking on each analysed brand.

Do you want us to include other brands, or do you want us to look at a particular product category? Just let us know in this post.

This is just the beginning!

Our 10 Sustainability Metrics

10 Measures We Are Going to Use to Gauge Brand Sustainability Impact

The following metrics will provide some more information about the brands we consume in terms of how sustainable they are.

As more consumers and brands opt for sustainable products and services, interest in the level of actual compliance with certain factors has gained momentum, and there is no sign of slowing down.

Companies are increasingly striving to create sustainable products, including circular design and reusable elements, which do not contribute to waste.

In our future ratings, we’ll put whether each brand meets these criteria -or if there is no information on any of them. There will be no weightings, 10 criteria to get a score between one and 10.

1. Carbon Footprint

Actions on carbon footprint – including carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) and fluorinated gases, at all three levels:

• Level 1: Produced by the company – vehicles and installations
• Level 2: Indirectly generated – electricity, steam, heating and cooling
• Level 3: Generated by suppliers of goods and services – transport, distribution, employee travel, end-of-life treatment of products sold and waste

Being net zero is a realistic ambition at this point.

2. Ecological Impact

How the company and its brands affect the planet’s ecological systems.

For example:

• Biodegradable waste materials
• Dyeing and laundering fabrics without releasing toxic substances.

3. Energy Consumption

Actions on energy used, both by consumption and by power sources.

For example:

• Electricity consumption reduction plans.
• Purchase of clean energy.

4. Freight Density

Optimization of the forms and volume used for shipments and transport of products or services.

5. Recycling Rates

Level of recycling as a way of knowing the effectiveness of each brand in preserving and preventing pollution and waste.

6. Saving Levels

Existence of improvements made from one year to the next, and even over shorter periods.

For example: The savings generated by reducing carbon emissions by 10% over one year.

7. Specific Product Monitoring

It allows to see how products are produced and used today, and how these uses can be improved in the future.

For example: you can now track how often an item is resold or recycled.

By using indicators, brands can measure their true sustainability impact.

This information can be used not only to share with consumers, but also to continually improve the sustainability performance of brands.

8. Supply Chain Waste

Understanding the sustainability level of different aspects of the company’s value chain.

9. Sustainability Scorecards

Third-party assessment of brand sustainability – business practices, transport and others. It allows to find ways to be even more sustainable.

For example: scorecard developed by the Green Business Bureau.

10. Water Management

Polluted water requires enormous amounts of energy to make it usable again. Polluted water also has detrimental effects on the planet’s natural systems, such as waterways and the ocean.

Water indicators include:

• Amount of water used
• Percentage of water recycled and/or reused
• Percentage of water wasted
• Percentage of water returned unpolluted

Sources

•  
• ESG Metrics and Analysis – Sustainability Success
• Green metrics: Are we measuring sustainability right?
• Key metrics to track sustainability progress
• Sustainability KPI Measures
• Sustainability Measurement

Images

• Picaidol on Pixabay