After announcing its intention earlier this year to achieve Climate Neutral certification by Earth Day, Parachute said it has reached that goal and plans to also transition to using 100 percent organic cotton by 2024.
The direct-to-consumer bedding and home goods brand achieved that status from Climate Neutral, a nonprofit organization that works with brands to eliminate carbon emissions. All Climate Neutral certified brands must meet climate neutrality standards for measuring, offsetting, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from making and delivering products and services.
“Being Climate Neutral resonates with Parachute’s core belief in conscious consumption, and it builds on our long-term vision for a sustainable future,” said Ariel Kaye, Parachute founder and CEO. “By strengthening our own commitments, we hope to lead and motivate our industry to follow suit. Our Climate Neutral certification enables us to make a positive impact on the world, not only by reducing our historic and future emissions, but also by supporting other organizations that are helping restore and protect the environment.”
To achieve certification, Parachute purchased carbon credits to offset its impact from 2021, with those credits benefitting four organizations focused on reforestation and biodiversity: The International Small Group and Tree Planting Program, Rimba Raya Biodiversity Reserve, The Lunagwa Community Forests Project, and WithOneSeed’s Timor Leste Community Reforestation Project. The organizations were chosen by Climate Neutral as verified carbon credits.
Related Stories
“With the help of Climate Neutral, our carbon offsets are supporting select organizations focused on reforestation and biodiversity,” Kaye said. “These projects are not only making a positive impact on the local environment and communities, but also making a difference in the livelihoods of the people who live in the locations.”
The move was first outlined as part of Parachute’s new sustainability policy, which was announced in January and includes a number of short- and long-term goals organized under four pillars: Climate + Earth, Responsible Materials, Ethical Manufacturing, and Diversity, Equity + Inclusion.
Since then, Parachute launched a 22-piece Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS)-certified organic cotton bedding and bath line. The company plans to build on that line over the next two years, phasing out any non-organic cotton. The move to organic cotton will help Parachute reduce emissions by limiting CO2 produced during the growing process, as well as cutting out the use of pesticides and other potentially harmful chemicals.
“After looking at our planned sales volume, our sourcing and planning team measures the amount of each material we are projected to consume,” Kaye said. “We will use this tool to determine the order in which all our cotton product programs will transition to organic over the next three years.”
Kaye said the switch to organic cotton won’t impact pricing on Parachute’s products at this time.
Along with these goals, Parachute also announced intentions to reduce its environmental impact by limiting air freight. It plans to rely primarily on combined ocean and land transportation, while implementing an internal approval process tying carbon emissions to the cost of air shipment.