Energy
Tracking and Reducing Our Carbon Footprint
Since early 2009, Klean has worked with renewable energy providers to reduce our environmental footprint. Our partners have helped us assess the electricity use at Klean Kanteen's headquarters and distribution center in Chico, California, and also the carbon footprint of the shipping for our online store. We purchase a combination of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), energy created from renewable sources like wind and solar and carbon offsets (from projects that capture and absorb carbon) equal to our use.
For the past seven years, Klean has worked with Green Mountain for our carbon offsets purchase. Though our partnership, we’re able to offer consumers a Green Shipping Program on our e-store, which uses a portion of the shipping costs to purchase carbon offsets and neutralize the environmental impact of our shipping.
In 2015, we established a new partnership with 3Degrees for our RECs purchase. Klean is now supporting 88,000 kWh of Renewable Energy with the purchase of Green-e Energy Certified Renewable Energy Certificates. This provides Klean a renewable energy purchase equivalent to 100% of electricity use at Klean HQ.
"We're excited to be working with other likeminded, values-driven companies who are committed to building and developing alternative energy resources. Working with 3Degrees and Green Mountain is a great step in a much larger plan to systematically integrate sustainable business practices throughout our entire business operation."
—Danielle Cresswell, Sustainability Manager, Klean Kanteen
The Details
Technically, it breaks down like this. First there's the electricity we use at our headquarters and distribution center in Chico, California. Each Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) represents a certain amount of electricity produced through renewable sources. We buy RECs equal to the amount of electricity we use that comes from non-renewable sources, and those RECs balance out the environmental impact of our electricity use.
Then there's the carbon footprint from all the shipments we send out when our customers order stuff from our online store. Our partner, Green Mountain, uses the Greenhouse Gas Protocols developed by the World Resource Institute to analyze our shipping and figure out the carbon footprint of an average shipment.
To make up for the carbon emissions from our shipping, we buy carbon offsets, which come from projects that absorb and capture carbon in the atmosphere. Carbon offsets are created in lots of different ways, some types of carbon capture projects involve the containment and/or combustion of the methane gases generated by farm animals, landfills or other sources of organic waste. It's not super sexy, but it works, and that's the kind of carbon offset we're buying.
The Green Shipping Program uses a portion of what customers pay for shipping to cover the cost of buying those carbon offsets. Put simply, we're helping fund projects that take carbon out of the atmosphere, equal to the amount generated from our shipping. So the net result is zero.
Why 3Degrees?
A fellow privately-held B-Corp, 3Degrees is an eight-time winner of DOE’s Renewable Energy Supplier of the Year and one of the largest Green-e Energy REC providers in the country. For over 15 years, they’ve provided renewable energy and carbon offset solutions to Fortune 500 companies, utilities, universities, government agencies and other organizations that are working to make their operations and services more sustainable.
Why Green Mountain?
Green Mountain is an expert in helping environmentally conscious companies like Klean Kanteen operate more sustainably. Green Mountain meets strict industry standards, is a pioneer in the renewable energy field, and is one of the most trusted companies selling renewable energy certificates and carbon offsets.
Green Mountain's carbon offsets are certified by third parties such as Green-e and Verified Carbon Standard respectively. Green-e is the nation's leading certification program for Renewable Energy Certificates and the Verified Carbon Standard is an association that reviews and certifies carbon offsets. Green Mountain's rigorous certification standards combined with their transparency about how the RECs and carbon offsets are generated, ensures the money we're investing goes to fund legitimate green power sources such as wind and solar, and creates demand for new green power-generating facilities.
