Consumers could cut their carbon footprint in half by choosing lower impact products

• The 2030 Calculator by Doconomy helps brands calculate the carbon footprint of their products
• Over 60% of an individual’s carbon footprint is linked to consumption
• Doconomy research show that you can cut carbon footprint in half with lower impact products

The 2030 Calculator by Doconomy provides brands with insights on how choices relating to materials, manufacturing processes, energy and logistics impact carbon emissions generated in the course of bringing products to the consumer. More than 600 brands have registered on the platform and thousands of product carbon footprints have so far been calculated.

By partnering with ecoinvent, the world-leading impact data provider, Doconomy has extended the platform’s ability to calculate the emissions generated across a variety of categories, ranging from apparel and shoes to furniture and home appliances, sports equipment, children’s toys and more. Doconomy will continue to add new material data to cover additional categories, such as food & drinks, by the end of 2021.

”ecoinvent builds on more than 20 years of experience in LCA methodology development and LCI data compilation for different industrial sectors. Working in collaboration with the team at Doconomy we contribute to an even broader reach through the innovative 2030 Calculator for product impact calculations”  Fadri Casty, Head of Sales & Business Development at ecoinvent.

By using the 2030 Calculator to quantify these carbon footprints, brands can enable consumers to make more informed buying decisions. By choosing lower impact items, consumers can effectively reduce their carbon footprint by as much as 50%.

“Consumers have the right to fully understand the true cost of what they are buying. To enable this, it is essential for brands to carbon label their products. The 2030 Calculator provides brands with a tool to kickstart their carbon labeling efforts. Any brand that calculates the carbon footprint of their product is contributing to a swift transition to responsible consumption and sustainable production.”  Johan Pihl, Doconomy founder and CIO.

Calculations are based on impact factor data from a wide variety of data sources, covering materials, processes, energy, and transportation. The 2030 Calculator can also be highly beneficial during product design, helping to evaluate the impact of different material choices before production.

“I warmly welcome the 2030 Calculator application. I am happy to see that climate considerations remain at the heart of innovation, and it gives me faith that the world can still win this fight.”  Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change.

The 2030 Calculator eliminates barriers such as cost and expertise that have previously prevented brands from calculating the carbon footprint of their products. Using a common methodology, aligned with global product lifecycle assessment standards, the 2030 platform provides a universal scoring system (similar to nutrition labels) that allows for accurate comparisons across brands and product categories.

“As with nutrition labels, the adoption of a universal scoring system for product environmental footprints would enable consumers to consider environmental impact together with the current factors like quality and price, driving their purchase decisions, creating a fundamental shift in consumption behavior. The question for brands is will they be leader in this necessary transformation, or will they follow?”  Shawn McKell, Doconomy Head of Platform Strategy.

Watch the video about the 2030 Calculator here

For additional information – please contact:
Masse Benesch, Head of Communications, Doconomy
masse.benesch@doconomy.com +46 733 14 14 34

How calculations were made:

The low/high impact calculations were made using extreme opposite scenarios for materials, packaging, energy and transportation.

For both low and high scenarios, the total amount of material used in product and packaging as well as the brand distribution center locations were the same (either Europe or the US).

Low Impact (product X)

● Materials - materials used were organic and/or recycled materials and no additional finishing processes were used
● Packaging - 100%recycled cardboard was used
● Energy - 100% renewable energy was used for manufacturing
● Transportation - all material suppliers and the manufacturing facility were located in the same country (where the brand distribution center was also located) with minimal distances between suppliers, manufacturing facility and distribution center and the lowest impact options for transportation modes were used

High Impact (product X)

● Materials - product materials used were a blend of virgin materials (where possible synthetic) with multiple finishing processes for each material
● Packaging - only plastics were used for packaging
● Energy - 100% non-renewable (fossil fuel) was used for processing and manufacturing
● Transportation - materials were sourced from multiple countries and transported to intermediary processing facilities (at locations other than the suppliers and manufacturing facility locations) and finally to the manufacturing facility located in China, by air. The final product was then transported to the brand distribution center located in either Europe or the US