Pakt’s Carbon Neutral Future: A note from Malcolm
Hello Pakt family,
I’m excited about the news I get to share today. Running a business often feels like an uphill grind. Every now and then though, we get to make a nice jump forward and this feels like one of those times. We have committed to operate a carbon neutral business starting in 2021!
We’re making the transition with the help of the independent non-profit organization Climate Neutral. In doing so, we are joining a small but growing group of like-minded businesses that have already made the pledge. We’ll be in good company with some of our brand friends like Western Rise, Allbirds, and Goodwell.
What does it mean to join Climate Neutral?
The first step is thoroughly assessing how much carbon our company produces in designing, sourcing, transporting, storing, and delivering the quality gear you expect from us. Then, we need to purchase carbon offsets that equal our output. The offsets are investments in projects that either prevent additional carbon from being produced, or remove existing carbon from the atmosphere– things like renewable energy or planting trees. But it’s not enough to simply keep doing what we’re doing and pay our way out of it. The third important part of the Climate Neutral certification is a pledge and ongoing effort to reduce our carbon emissions, while we continue to purchase offsets for anything that remains.
Why did we decide to join Climate Neutral now?
I don’t need to explain the dire and urgent climate situation we’re facing to any of you. In business, there’s never a good time to take on additional projects and expenses. However, when it comes to global warming and changing our ways, we don’t have the luxury of waiting another year or even another day.
Back in 2016, before we launched Pakt, I became focused on the sense that my own product development profession was responsible for so many of the environmental issues we were facing. Since designers are also great creative problem solvers, I set my sights on using design for good. I had decided to focus my energy on tackling a problem that, as an offshore boater and fisherman, felt personal to me; the ocean plastics problem. When the opportunity to launch Pakt arose I was reluctant until I realized I could do so and use it to jumpstart our SeaHive plastic-free packaging effort. So, from day one, Pakt has operated at the intersection of modern life and environmentalism.
You won’t ever see us describe what we do as ‘sustainable,’ because in my opinion, the only truly sustainable product development is none at all. Since that’s not really an option in the world we live in, the next best thing is creating durable long-lasting products in as responsible a way as possible. As we create these products, we are striving to make the whole process more environmentally and socially responsible as quickly as possible by grabbing any opportunity to do so. Some of those opportunities are small steps forward. Joining Climate Neutral is a big step forward and therefore a no brainer to us.
Business has a bad name, and often rightfully so. The typical profit-by-any-means-necessary approach has earned it. Instead, we see business as an opportunity to lead by example. Our hope is that by taking the relatively small additional effort to operate in a better way than the status quo, these changes will result in you, the customer, expecting more from all the companies you support. That’s when real change happens.
We plan on keeping you updated regularly on our brand new Transparency Report section on our Pakt site. Thanks for joining us on the journey!
All the best,
Malcolm
Links & Action
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Learn more about the Green New Deal
- Offset your own carbon footprint
- Follow along on our journey to becoming more responsible
