Is ‘carbon neutral’ a useful guide to shop sustainably or just another confusing marketing claim?

When it comes to environmentally-friendly beauty, there are a wealth of terms to try to understand—from ‘green’ and ‘clean’ to ‘plastic-free’. Now, ‘carbon neutral’ is the eco buzzword that is making waves.

Carbon neutrality is a concept that aims to ensure our products have less of an impact on the planet, by focusing on how to minimise and counteract carbon emissions. But is ‘carbon neutral’ really a useful guide when trying to shop more sustainably, or just another confusing marketing claim?

We spoke to industry experts about the positives and negatives of carbon neutrality, as well as where it sits within the booming environmentally conscious beauty sector (which Statista predicts will have a global market value worth of £40 billion by 2027).

Why are carbon emissions important to address? 

“Our carbon footprint (in other words, how much carbon dioxide we produce) is extremely important because CO2, along with other greenhouse gases, traps the sun’s radiation inside the earth’s atmosphere, causing the earth to heat up," says Lisa Sexton, founder of Bolt Beauty, a brand with sustainability at its core. "This is known as global warming.” 

What does carbon neutrality mean?

“Being carbon neutral means that the amount of carbon dioxide produced (from doing things like burning fossil fuels) is equal to or less than the amount of carbon dioxide being captured or taken away from the environment," explains Sexton. "Carbon neutrality is about ensuring that the carbon dioxide we emit through our practises or lifestyles is net zero and it can be applied to beauty brands, other businesses and even individuals.”

Co-founder of eco-enterprise Giki Zero, Jo Hand, stresses that the term is not black and white when it comes to beauty. "The first question is, is it just one specific product that's carbon neutral?" she asks. "Or is it the whole company or the brand?"

Why do we discuss "net zero" emissions? Is it the same as no carbon emissions?

“In an ideal world, we would all have zero carbon footprint, meaning that nothing we do or buy would emit carbon dioxide. But, practically speaking, this is pretty much impossible. So, it’s important that we focus on reducing our carbon footprint as much as we can, instead," says Sexton. "The scientific community widely acknowledges that we must reduce emissions to net zero (in other words, we must be carbon neutral) in order to avoid catastrophic consequences to the planet.”

In addition to that, there should also be an expectation for companies to "make efforts to reduce carbon emissions as well before you start offsetting," adds Hand.

How do we measure carbon emissions? 

According to Sexton, under the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (the industry standard for measuring and managing carbon emissions), there are three different carbon neutral 'scopes':

Scope 1: emissions directly from the company.

Scope 2: emissions from purchasing electricity, such as to power manufacturing machinery or light an office.

Scope 3: other indirect emissions—for example, incurred in relation to the extraction of raw materials or in connection with shipping.

"Understanding the 'scope' that we’re talking about when it comes to being carbon neutral is really important," she says. "Of course, if every business was carbon neutral we would only need to worry about our own emissions (or scope 1). Sadly though, this is not the case; businesses need to consider the indirect emissions they are responsible for, too."

What role do beauty brands play?

"Having some sort of carbon footprint as a beauty brand is inevitable," says Sexton. "For many brands, scope 1 might be minimal because most won’t be generating any emissions directly, unless they have their own manufacturing facilities. The majority of emissions will be scope 3—for example, the purchase of packaging from a supplier which used electricity to power machinery. The brand needs to record all shipments (weights, methods and distances) in line with internationally recognised standards, before arriving at an overall footprint."

She continues: "When we think about being a carbon-neutral beauty brand we therefore need to consider each area, not just scope 1. This means accurately measuring emissions requires co-operation from the supply chain.”

Molly Hart, the founder of LA-based lipstick brand Highr adds: “The hardest part in achieving complete CO2 neutrality is finding scope 2 and scope 3 partners who are also investing in renewables. It’s 2022 and it’s still almost impossible to have a 100 per cent renewable supply chain.”

“Luckily, CO2 offset providers have stepped up and created gold standard programs that expand the use of renewable energy throughout the world,” she tells Bazaar. “By partnering with them, we’re able to offset any operational CO2 used to create Highr products.”

What is meant by 'offsetting' and 'carbon credits'?

“Once emissions have been measured, a brand should first go through a stage of reduction. Anything that cannot be reduced must be 'offset', which is done through the purchase of 'carbon credits'," says Sexton. "These are special instruments that can be purchased to counterbalance carbon dioxide emissions. The cost of them represents the amount it takes to remove an equivalent amount (normally 1 tonne) of carbon dioxide from the environment.”

The money from carbon credits is used to support projects which either reduce carbon dioxide levels by offsetting what is produced, or they contribute to work to decrease the amount of it that gets generated in the first place. Tree-planting schemes (which scientists call carbon sequestration) are one of the most popular options and you may know beauty brands already doing this. For the best results though, this offsetting should exist alongside a determined effort to lower a company's existing emissions.

So it's not just about planting trees?

"The reality is, if we could get ourselves out of the climate crisis through tree-planting, it would be very straightforward," says Hand, explaining that it will take a long time before a tree can even begin to absorb any carbon.

Thankfully, there are projects investing in new forms of energy like solar power or providing more fuel-efficient cookers for families in the developing world, explains Sexton, whose brand supports the latter option. “In the developing world, cooking is frequently still carried out over stone fires, which burn wood and produce carbon dioxide. By providing fuel-efficient stoves, we reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emitted and prevent deforestation—as much less wood is needed for cooking—but we also help improve living and health conditions for the individuals.”

Why can 'carbon neutral' claims be confusing?

“When a beauty brand (or indeed, anyone) talks about being carbon neutral, it’s important to understand what they actually mean," Sexton explains. "For example, being carbon neutral to scope 1 versus scope 3 is radically different. From a consumer perspective, this doesn’t make things particularly easy, so it’s really important for brands to explain what they are doing and why. It’s not good enough to just say, 'We’re carbon neutral'; we need to explain to what scope and the ways in which we are managing our carbon offsets.”

The best way to find out if your favourite brand is backing its carbon-neutrality claims is to check its website. Brands who are genuinely in support of carbon neutrality will be transparent about their efforts, and respond to any queries regarding their eco-practices.

How carbon neutrality relates to:

Plastic-free

Sexton: "The challenge with sustainability is that there is always a trade-off. A brand could absolutely be organic, recyclable, plastic-free and carbon neutral. However, each one adds complexities. Plastic-free beauty means that the brand’s packaging is made from something else, for example aluminium, glass, or paper. Most of us associate glass as being more sustainable than plastic but in fact, glass has a high carbon footprint due to the way in which it is made and its increased weight. Of course, the brand can offset but ultimately, reduction is better than trying to fix a problem."

Organic or natural ingredients

Hand: "The organic standards basically mean that you can't use artificial chemicals and fertilisers [in ingredient farming]. There's lots of evidence that shows that organic farms have about 50 per cent more nature and biodiversity just because they're not killed off by pesticides. There's also been quite a lot of recent research on the role that organic soil can play in actually reabsorbing carbon. Soil that hasn't been heavily farmed has a greater power of carbon sequestration or reabsorption."

Recycling

Sexton: “Recyclable beauty is a tricky one as the technicality of whether packaging is recyclable does not directly correspond with whether it will actually be recycled. Recycling rates vary dramatically from country to country (and even within the UK) and I believe we need to address this through a culture that encourages reduction rather than excess. Instead of producing excessive outer packaging, which is technically recyclable, why don’t we just eliminate it? This is better from an emissions perspective, as there will be fewer materials, less manufacturing and lower shipping weight.”

How can customers make steps to becoming carbon aware?

“There is no quick fix. Transitioning to a carbon-neutral world is extremely complex and I think the first thing people should do is to try and understand exactly what we mean by carbon emissions and carbon credits," says Sexton. "Fortunately, there are amazing resources out there, such as the WWF’s calculator, which helps measure your carbon impact.” There's also GiKi Zero (which stands for Get Informed Know Your Impact). GiKi's online calculator helps customers track, understand and reduce their carbon footprint.

Alternatively, buying local is always a good bet. It's not always straightforward but, in general, purchasing essentials that haven't travelled across oceans often mean a lower carbon footprint – although it is still important to buy less, but better. But streamlining your skincare routine doesn't mean compromising on efficacy, something that Hand is familiar with. "It makes life simpler and quicker and cheaper," she says.

Factors that impact the carbon footprint of goods include:

Distance travelled – so buying local rather than buying imported goods is definitely better here.

Weight of the goods – heavier goods will have a higher carbon footprint due to the impact on shipping.

Amount and type of packaging – the more packaging there is, the worse the carbon footprint. Plus, not all packaging is created equal due to varying production methods and weights.

The actual goods – meat and dairy have a higher carbon footprint and beef is worse than other forms due to the amount of methane (a greenhouse gas) produced by cattle.

Are there carbon neutral accreditation or logos to look for?

Climate Neutral

Climate Neutral has been set up to provide a framework that businesses can work towards when it comes to carbon offsetting, and customers can look for the logo and trust that a product has a net-zero carbon footprint. Impressively, the certification process has already offset 172,959 tonnes of carbon.

Gold Standard

It can be tricky to quantify how successful carbon reduction or removal projects really are. One organisation to look for is Gold Standard, which has rigorous processes in place for quantifying the effectiveness of projects, while also ensuring that there are no unintended consequences, such as habit destruction.

Carbon Jacked

Carbon Jacked is an organisation which assesses brands' carbon emissions and is highly regarded because it only works with United Nations Gold Standard projects. These not only work to offset carbon, but contribute to a wide range of UN sustainability goals.

Brands themselves

Any companies that are serious about their carbon emissions should be more than happy to answer questions about what they are doing to balance their footprint. Avoid those that feel aversive and embrace the ones that are proud to tell you their policies.

Companies committing to sizeable donations to charities like Amazon Frontlines and Rainforest Alliance, which help with tree planting schemes and other offsetting processes, can be a good guide, too.

What's the future or carbon neutral beauty?

According to Jessi Baker, founder of Provenance, a global leader in sustainability marketing technology, “the climate emergency is the single most important issue for our generation, and shoppers are looking for brands that are going to take the lead. For brands, there’s a huge opportunity to take the lead on carbon, but we need to see businesses going beyond offsets and making real operational changes.”

Transparency about a brand’s impact on climate change is key, and it is something that will positively influence a shopper’s decision-making, especially considering the huge range of options available on beauty shelves.

This piece originally appeared in Harper's Bazaar UK

Lead photo and sq: katrinakaif/Instagram