We talked about sustainable fashion with Anna Blom, a journalist and speaker with a passion for fashion and sustainability.

Anna’s interest in sustainable fashion started many years ago, with a major turning point during a press trip she took to Shanghai in 2016 to write about a sustainability award.

“That the fashion industry is such a major climate culprit had been unknown to me, as a fashion journalist, until then – and the trip was an eye-opener to say the least. I was both enlightened and devastated. How could all these wonderful things cause SO much harm?”

“We can help save the world through our clothes”

“Our consumption of clothes and textiles causes 4% of the total greenhouse gas emissions in Sweden, and clothes and shoes cause about 2-8% globally. So somewhere around 2-8% of our emissions come from textiles – and partly from our wardrobes. One can feel helpless, even apathetic, in the planetary emergency we find ourselves in. What does it matter what I do?”

“BUT I believe that it does matter! We CAN all help to save the world through how we look after our clothes! It may sound silly, but that spirit is important to me. I believe that you and I can make a difference. We make choices every day and how we ‘vote with our wallets’ – what we spend our money on – has a global impact.”

“I admit, that sometimes I lose interest and feel ridiculous dragging another bag of odd socks to the textile collection. What does it matter what I do? How do I know that my old socks won’t end up in a landfill in Ghana?”

“Navigating the jungle of different sustainability messages is difficult. And it’s difficult, if not impossible, to decipher the sustainability promises brands make to us. But I have learned to stop listening to that inner critical voice. Doing something is better than doing nothing.”

Believes in sustainable development

On her own approach to fashion and consumption, Anna is making it clear that she is far from perfect herself.

“I buy new clothes. I fly. I believe that economic growth and environmental issues can be combined in sustainable development. But it’s HOW we do it… Today I buy fewer garments and have a dream of a small but useful capsule wardrobe where everything can be combined. I’m not there yet, but I’m on my way. I also shop much more secondhand nowadays.”

“To understand how and where I can make the biggest difference and whether it matters if I buy those ballerina shoes this fall or not, is key. On the whole, of course, it does not matter, but to link back to what I said earlier, I think it is more about adopting a mindset. It all adds up.”

Anna’s best tips to enjoy fashion more sustainably

“Use the clothes you already have in your closet. If you need to buy something new, think about how many times you will use it. When shopping, choose second-hand over new purchases. To save climate impact when shopping second-hand, you need to replace a planned new purchase. Compare this to, for example, when you ‘save’ money by buying on sale. You don’t, of course, because you spend money if you buy a jacket on sale.”

“But if you replace buying a jacket at full price, then you actually save money if you find it at half price. This is important to say as second-hand has somehow come to be seen as a write off, seen as you’re doing something good without thinking the whole process through. We must replace a planned new purchase in order for it to have a positive climate impact.”

What do you wish everyone knew about sustainable fashion?

“That the biggest negative climate impact of a garment is in its production (80%). If you use a garment for twice as long, you reduce its negative climate impact by about half.”

“My feed gives you tips on how to be more stylish without being a professor of sustainability. My driving force on Instagram is to make difficult facts simple and usable. If I can inspire someone along the way, that’s a bonus.”

If you are curious about Anna and the work she does in sustainable fashion, you can find her at @msannablom or www.annablom.se/en.

Gurgin Bakircioglu is highly involved  in several current social issues, including climate and animal rights. We spoke to him about his approach to plant-based eating.

“It is an issue that touches my heart since I witnessed the slaughter of a goat in Kurdistan. After living in denial for many years, I could no longer turn a blind eye to the goat’s suffering. The initial shift happened in me then, but was followed by another decade of active denial before I finally chose to stop eating meat in 2011 and later went vegan in 2016.

I came to the realization that animals, these amazing creatures that share our earth, are meant to live in freedom and harmony, just like us humans. It became clear to me that it is not right for me to deprive them of their right to life and dignity for the sake of my taste buds or old habits.”

To Gurgin, the hardest thing about veganism is the environment.

“To see the most intelligent people around you trying to defend something so wrong and indefensible is hard. Being vegan in a world that doesn’t always understand or support this lifestyle can be difficult. But whether you’re Kurdish or Swedish, the choice to be vegan is, actually,  simple and achievable.”

For people who are curious about eating more plant-based but may not be ready to take the plunge, Gurgin says:

“Be open to learning more! There are incredible health and climate benefits to a vegan diet. I started my vegan journey for the sake of animals and then discovered the connection to climate change. Now, as I train crossfit 6-7 days a week, I have realized that you can actually have elite athletic ambitions with a plant-based diet. It is amazing to be able to build a strong body and endurance without having to eat anything that has had eyes, ears, nose, mouth – or a mother.”

Practice dumpster diving

In addition to going vegan, Gurgin has been continuously “dumpstring” food for four years.

“Our inefficient food system has a huge leak where huge amounts of food are thrown away every day, while people go to bed hungry. If food waste were a nation, it would be the third largest source of greenhouse gas emissions globally, after China and the US.  We often approach food waste from the wrong end of the stick, trying to promote awareness, support initiatives to reduce food waste and improve the distribution of food to those who need it most. But we need to start at the other end: with production. We need clear laws and rules to follow if we really want a sustainable and fair food system.”

When asked what changes Gurgin would like to see in society to reduce meat consumption, he wants to focus on healthcare, education and social services.

“Every day, almost every third Swede eats at least one meal provided by healthcare, school and care, which means that every day there is an opportunity to reduce three million people’s emissions with the help of a vegan, climate-smart, public meal. Remove animal products from all public meals. A plant-based meal is not only sustainable and nutritious, it also saves time and money as it eliminates the need of “special diets”. A vegan meal is halal, kosher and free of milk, eggs, fish, seafood and can easily be made free of peanuts, soy, nuts, seeds and other allergenes. There are only benefits to this, from economic ones to health related wins.”

— 

*Dumpstring comes from the English word “dumpster diving”, which means taking care of things that have been thrown away.

Long-time GoClimate client Netlight, an IT and Management consulting company providing services for leaders in the digital industry, is characterized by an open, encouraging, and prestige-free culture. Netlight has repeatedly been awarded for growth as well as for successfully working with gender equality.

Netlight’s former CEO, Erik Ringertz, explains how their strong sustainability focus started:

“It is difficult to date its origin as the idea of paying back (or paying forward) is deeply rooted in Netlight’s culture and always included society as a stakeholder. We always try to find initiatives that are close to our core business and therefore tangible. Our first bigger move was to balance our CO2 emissions as part of our traveling policy. That was back in 2015, when we decided to balance out not only current and future emissions, but also all past travel emissions.”

Impactful policy: “Veggie First”

Victoria Cederberg, HR Generalist, and Emma Ahlberg, Office manager, tell us more about Netlight’s sustainability work, more specifically one of their most impactful policies implemented a few years back – “Veggie First”.

“All our internal policies are born from the endeavor to limit our climate footprint and increase our power to take climate action. Our Veggie First policy means that all events and meetings at Netlight have adopted vegetarian or vegan food as the norm, totally removing meat as an option.

Veggie First is an easy way to inspire our employees and clients to eat vegetarian meals to lower the environmental impact. By sharing vegetarian meals together, we can both measure and feel the impact that it has.”

“The initiative started back in 2016 after demands from the employees to have more vegetarian food options at the office – and in 2017 Netlight introduced the Veggie First as the norm. The policy gradually moved the company to 100% vegetarian food over the course of five years, where 2022 marked the first year of no meat options available at all. The policy has allowed Netlight to reduce its food emissions by 54%, and was well received by employees. The majority thought it was the right way for Netlight, as a growing and inspirational company, to go. Many saw it as a good opportunity to try out new food, a source of inspiration and not least a great way to reduce the company’s emissions. Of course, there were employees who were skeptical at first – some concerns were raised about if vegetarian food really would keep the same high standard as meat based options, and if it would be filling and nutritious enough. So Netlight put a lot of effort into making sure vegetarian food was the way ahead, and the few people who were hesitant at first, seem to have warmed to the policy without any problems.

“A win-win situation for climate, the supplier and our employees”

Victoria and Emma continue on some of the challenges with implementing the policy:

“Back in 2016 the access to high quality vegetarian food options wasn’t great, and it could get very expensive. The Netlight event team put a lot of effort into finding great suppliers offering delicious and nutritious meals that would make the most adamant meat-eater happy. We see it as a crucial part in developing our Veggie First policy to put high demands on all our food suppliers to serve great vegetarian options. This is where we see ourselves being role models in the industry, where there is a win-win situation for both the climate, the supplier and our employees.”

On their continuous work with climate and sustainability, Victoria and Emma continue:

“At Netlight, we work actively to reduce our CO2 footprint through our initiative Climate First – the foundation of our environmental activities helping to create transparency and bring concrete results through a number of sub-policies –  and leave nothing to chance. For example, the deliberately central locations of all Netlight offices makes it possible for employees to get to work via bicycle, walk or public transport, to keep overall emissions down.”

Check out Netlights Environmental Policy here.

We’re here to help you get started!

We would love to hear about other successful stories of how climate policies have been implemented in your company – please share in comments or via dm! And if you haven’t got round to setting your own policy and targets yet, we are here to help <3

Just send us an email to [email protected] – and we’ll get started!

Implementing a climate policy covering everything from how you travel to what demands you should put on suppliers in terms of their sustainability efforts, sets you up for success. Not to mention how much it will help employees in everyday decisions and create a great base for communication around your sustainability efforts.

MINK MGMT is a photographer and creative management agency founded in 2012 with offices in Stockholm and London. In addition to artist management, they also offer full production services, which is a great opportunity to set climate policies to ensure the environmental impact is kept as minimal as possible. 

“We have always had an eco-friendly mindset and an inclusive way to work and do business. As we have grown with our clients, we have had the opportunity to work to positively influence industry change and manage the aspects of our industry that we are able to control and make more sustainable”, says Marie Jernström Linins, founder and CEO of MINK MGMT.

Focus on remote photoshoots

Since the productions MINK MGMT work with often involves international clients and a lot of travel, their climate policy efforts are mainly targetting that area. To keep travels down, video and phone meetings are prioritized where possible.  When flying is the only option, all flights are offsetted through financing certified climate projects. 

“For overseas clients we offer them the possibility to shoot remotely to cut down on emissions. We have done several productions that way, just recently we shot two global campaigns for Adidas in Stockholm with the client in Germany and the advertising agency in New York. We had live feeds from the stills and film cameras so that the client could see what was being shot live on their own screens, an online meeting feed for each set to communicate, and go pro cameras in the studios so the client could follow everything remotely. Everyone pulled together to work on a time zone that would work for all, it turned out great – and with a lot less negative climate impact than traditional shoots!” says Marie Jernström Linins, MINK MGMT.

MINK MGMT’s climate policy

Check out and get inspired by MINK MGMTs sustainability policy here!

Don’t hesitate to get in touch with us to get guidance in setting a climate policy for your business!

With these smart biogas stoves we fight climate change while Improving health and quality of life for people living in rural uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.

This climate project is Gold Standard-certified and through this project we have together prevented 32,688 tonnes of CO2e from entering the atmosphere!

The problem

The use of burning wood when boiling water and cooking food represents a big problem for many families and for the environment. It contributes to indoor pollution, causing severe health issues mainly among women and children, who are overwhelmingly responsible for running the household, and families have to walk up to 5 km to collect firewood and it is heavy on the families’ budget. The reliance on wood for cooking puts pressure on surrounding forests, leading to degraded lands and increased desertification.

How the project fights climate change

The digesters are fed with cow dung and organic kitchen waste to produce biogas, which is then piped to a thermal stove, providing thermal energy for cooking and boiling water, on demand. The biogas systems are long-lasting, easy to install and maintain, and do not cost money to run.

To date, this project has installed over 15,000 smart biogas systems to rural families across Uttar Pradesh & Maharashtra.

You can see the project at the Gold Standard-registry here: https://registry.goldstandard.org/projects/details/1097

Investing in your company’s sustainability lets you enjoy the result of happier employees and an overall stronger offer and brand, while contributing to a healthier planet. Here are some of the most important things your company can do:

1. Calculate your company’s emissions

By calculating your company’s carbon footprint, you get an overview of your main sources of emissions, allowing you to take relevant action in the areas that will have the most impact. Try out our simple business calculator to get started!

2. Set a climate policy

Implementing a climate policy covering everything from how you travel to what demands you should put on suppliers in terms of their sustainability efforts, sets you up for success. Not to mention how much it will help employees in everyday decisions, as well as create a great base for communication around your sustainability efforts.

3. Go veggie first and reduce food waste

Serve vegetarian or vegan food as the norm. 35% of the world’s emissions stem from food, and eating less meat is one of the most meaningful changes people can make to cut greenhouse gas emissions and help reduce deforestation.  If people in developed countries switched to more fruit and veg, emissions could fall a whole 29% by 2050. * 

Half of the emissions from the food industry comes from food waste today. Reduce your company’s food waste by notifying coworkers when there is food left from events and meetings, to take home.

4. Buy second hand IT equipment and repair before buying new

Replace IT equipment only when it is no longer working, instead of as often as every third or fourth year, as is the current average. Buy second-hand equipment instead of buying new – and fix first! Always try to repair before buying new. Pro-longing tech items’ lifespan by just a couple of years can have a great positive impact on the climate.

5. Switch to renewable energy

Switching to renewable (green) electricity is probably the easiest way to make a significant difference to your overall emissions. Green energy comes from natural sources and is sustainably sourced – and the switch is a crucial step in reducing our dependence on fossil fuels.

6. Balance your emissions through certified climate projects

Taking ownership and reducing your overall impact on the planet is a crucial step in future-proofing your business. Balancing your emissions through financing climate projects is one way to take responsibility for your emissions on top of reducing them. GoClimate offers climate financing through certified Gold Standard projects, which on top of speeding up global climate action, contribute to local sustainable development by offering jobs, contributing to gender equality or improving air quality.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) är ett begrepp som har blivit allt vanligare på senare år, och handlar om hur företag tar ansvar för sin påverkan på samhället och miljön. CSR innefattar bland annat frågor som mänskliga rättigheter, arbetsförhållanden och miljöpåverkan. Ett viktigt verktyg för att bedöma företags CSR-arbete är CSR Disclosure, eller CSRD.

CSRD handlar om hur företag rapporterar om sitt hållbarhetsarbete och resultatet av det. CSRD är ett viktigt verktyg för att bedöma hur väl företag lever upp till sina hållbarhetsambitioner.

När träder CSRD i kraft?

Från och med 2024 kommer alla större företag inom EU att vara skyldiga att rapportera om sin CSR-verksamhet och resultat.

Vilka företag omfattas av CSRD?

Reglerna för vilka företag som omfattas av CSRD är följande:

1 januari 2024 (rapportering 2025) för företag/koncerner som är stora, är av allmänt intresse och med fler än 500 anställda.

1 januari 2025 (rapportering 2026) för stora företag/koncerner. De företag som omfattas uppfyller två av tre av följande kriterier: 350 miljoner kronor eller mer i omsättning, 175 miljoner kronor eller mer i balansomslutning eller 250 anställda eller fler.

1 januari 2026 (rapportering 2027) för små och medelstora företag noterade på en marknadsplats samt små och icke-komplexa kreditinstitut.

Fördelar

Förutom att vara ett sätt att visa upp företagens CSR-arbete, kan CSRD också ha andra fördelar. Genom att rapportera om sin CSR-verksamhet kan företag locka till sig investerare och kunder som är intresserade av företagens hållbarhetsarbete. CSRD kan också bidra till att öka medvetenheten om viktiga CSR-frågor och på så sätt bidra till en mer hållbar utveckling.

Trots fördelarna med CSRD är det tyvärr fortfarande många företag som inte rapporterar om sin CSR-verksamhet på ett tillfredsställande sätt. Det kan vara svårt att mäta CSR-resultat på ett entydigt sätt, och det kan också finnas en rädsla bland företag att avslöja brister i sin verksamhet.

Vi kan hjälpa till

Vill du ta fram en hållbarhetsrapport som uppfyller CSRD? Hör av dig till oss för att få reda på hur våra automatiska verktyg kan göra det enkelt för dig.

Here, we gathered links with sources and further reading to the social media post explaining why the most sustainable outfit is already in your wardrobe.

Cosh Eco, How does textile recycling work?

Fast company, 2022: Why ‘recycled’ clothes are so hard to recycle

Business of Fashion, 2023: When Sustainable Fashion Does More Harm Than Good

Impulso, 2022: The problem with overproduction – explained

Labfresh: The Fashion Lab Index

The Washington Post, 2023: What really happens to your clothes after you donate them

Telegraph, 2022: The truth behind what really happens to all the clothes rejected by charity shops

Tidningen Land, 2019 (Swedish language): Att tänka på när du skänker kläder till second hand

Naturvårdsverket (Swedish language): Så påverkar konsumtionen i Sverige