Bridgewater, MA, USA — Two pioneers in the food industry – sustainability metrics developer, Bluehorse Associates, and US fair trade market leader, Equal Exchange – have joined forces to unveil a new emblem. The "We Use Carbonostics" emblem launches today to provide a more accessible option to food and drink companies that wish to demonstrate a significant commitment to sustainability without the burden or risk of publishing quantitative measurements reflecting environmental impacts.
"While the debate around the how and why of environmental labeling rages on, most companies find their organizations in limbo. They may not be ready to, or see the benefit of, publishing their measurements, but they do want to demonstrate their commitment to sustainability," explains Bluehorse Associates President Sara Pax. "The 'We Use Carbonostics' emblem delivers the first truly realistic option to do just that: this badge of honor emblem communicates to both internal and external stakeholders that the company is working on their sustainability challenges in a committed and informed way."
By using "We Use Carbonostics", food companies commit to:
1. Operate with a strategic and active commitment to sustainability; 2. Conduct environmental impact measurement analyses with Carbonostics at a facility, product or organizational level; 3. Apply Carbonostics' results to drive more informed decisions about the operational practices of their businesses and their brands; and, 4. Communicate this commitment to internal and external stakeholders by using the "We Use Carbonostics" emblem.
Pax adds, "We are delighted to launch the 'We Use Carbonostics' commitment program in collaboration with Equal Exchange, a company dedicated to fair trade, sustainability, and long-term profitability."
The "We Use Carbonostics" emblem and commitment program is the fruit of a pilot program between Bluehorse Associates and Equal Exchange. The pilot revealed that an alternative to labeling or publishing environmental impacts could be beneficial to small-to-medium sized food sector companies to express that they are actively working on their sustainability challenges.
"[As part of this pilot], we conducted a carbon, energy, and product life cycle assessment with Carbonostics. The analysis process was powerful, informative and relevant to our business and our sustainability objectives. The results crystallized which areas of our business and supply chain contribute proportionately to carbon emissions and, in turn, revealed options for carbon reduction that didn't necessarily match our prior assumptions," explains Rob Everts, Equal Exchange Co-Executive Director.
"The "We Use Carbonostics" emblem helps us express our dedication and motivation to improve environmental stewardship to our stakeholders without the need for publishing detailed environmental metrics that are expensive and burdensome to create, and not really understandable to the vast majority of our stakeholders and customers," Everts adds.
The "We Use Carbonostics" emblem is featured in the Equal Exchange Annual Report published in July 2013.
To learn more about the benefits of using the "We Use Carbonostics" emblem, visit: www.carbonostics.com.
About Carbonostics
Carbonostics has become the food and drink industry's standard for sustainability metrics. Carbonostics, developed by Bluehorse Associates, is an integrated suite of environmental impact measurement tools delivering actionable results for company's carbon and energy accounting, hot-spot screening, product portfolio analysis, product carbon footprinting and product lifecycle assessment needs. The Carbonostics technology has over 200 users worldwide, including manufacturers, retailers, food service providers, scientists, academics and consultants. Bluehorse Associates has office in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France and Chicago, IL, US and has field offices in the UK and Belgium. Visit: www.carbonostics.com
About Equal Exchange
Equal Exchange, a pioneer and US market leader in Fair Trade since 1986, is a full service provider of high quality, organic coffee, tea, chocolate, bananas and other foods to customers across the United States. 100% of Equal Exchange products are fairly traded, benefiting more than 75 small farmer co-operatives in 40 countries around the world. In keeping with its Fair Trade mission Equal Exchange is a worker co-operative, owned and democratically controlled by its employees. Equal Exchange is headquartered in West Bridgewater, Massachusetts, USA. Visit: www.equalexchange.coop
Source: Carbonostics