Climate Neutral teamed up with Consciously in 2022 to help people identify and support certified brands. In this guest blog, Consciously shares more about what the Climate Neutral Certified Label means and how you can easily find it online while shopping on sites like Amazon. If you’ve been looking to align your everyday spending habits with your values, this blog is for you!
Guest Author: Consciously
It’s no secret greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are rising at unprecedented rates. They’re currently at a 4 million year high, with humans pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere 10 times faster than at any time over the past 66 million years. If we want to avoid continuing on this path and facing tragic impacts of climate change, such as more frequent extreme weather, we need to reduce global greenhouse gasses way below current levels. Starting yesterday.
Yet, it can understandably feel overwhelming knowing where to start. How does someone like me make a real impact on the global climate crisis?
A first, meaningful step is to support companies that are taking credible climate action by shopping with your values. How you spend your money matters. There are more resources than ever to help you buy things differently and integrate climate action into your everyday errands and purchases.
Consciously is a free browser extension that shares information about a company's practices, policies, and ethics while you shop. It works with nonprofits, such as Climate Neutral, to aggregate data on what a company is doing with your money after you’ve made a purchase so you can be better informed before you click buy. When you’re shopping a product online, Consciously appears as a small window in your browser screen with a simple red or green rating letting you know whether a brand is Climate Neutral Certified or not. It will also offer product alternatives that are certified.
Step one is to become familiar with companies that are taking trusted steps to immediately measure, reduce, and compensate for their carbon emissions.
Climate Neutral, the independent nonprofit working with companies and consumers to eliminate carbon emissions, certifies companies that do just that.
Climate Neutral’s growing community of certified brands now makes and delivers billions of dollars of goods and services around the world—including health & beauty products, consumer goods, food & beverage, professional services, software, and much more. In 2022 alone, the nonprofit certified more than 300 brands that collectively directed more than $10 million of investment into verified climate solutions.
All you have to do is look for the label. And Consciously is making that label even easier to spot by bringing it into the online shopping experience.
Whenever you see the Climate Neutral Certified label, it means the same thing: a company has taken immediate, credible climate action. Brands earn the label annually after completing the Climate Neutral certification process. This process requires every organization to measure, reduce, and compensate for all of their emissions from making and delivering their products and services.
The three-step model is developed around a rigorous and peer-reviewed Standard. It’s a vetted, streamlined approach that has resulted in a globally recognized benchmark for carbon accountability—one that people can understand.
So, when you see the Climate Neutral Certified label, you can trust the company is truly accountable for their carbon footprint. It is not simply talking about climate change or future plans. It is taking verified action—right now.
In 2022, Consciously partnered with Climate Neutral to make it easier for consumers to identify and support Climate Neutral Certified brands. It also provides recommendations on certified alternatives when that lotion or sweater you are eyeing hasn’t met the Climate Neutral Standard.
If you’ve never used Consciously before, rest assured it’s super easy to get started. Here’s what to do:
Because people have operated as if climate change was someone else’s problem to solve for years. Science is urgently reminding us: it’s everyone’s problem now. And, it’s also everyone’s opportunity. Thanks to resources like Climate Neutral and tools like Consciously, there’s no excuse not to take action and rethink your everyday purchases.
You’ll be in good company, too. Recent research shows 60% of U.S. consumers report making more environmentally friendly purchases since the pandemic. Searches for sustainable products have increased by a whopping 82% on Amazon, and many people say they’ll even pay more for sustainable products—which is prompting brands to invest more into climate solutions and curb their emissions.
Transforming your everyday spending habits doesn’t have to be difficult. Add the Consciously extension to your browser and check the carbon neutral filter here. In just one click, you’ll be aligning your actions to your values and supporting Climate Neutral Certified organizations taking immediate climate action.
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