Brands Are Starting To Use Carbon Labels

Brands are starting to add carbon labels to their packaging  so consumers could be aware of how sustainable a product is before buying it. 

The carbon labels are kind of like nutrition labels. They offer a variety of sustainability facts of the product, such as details about packaging, production, how to recycle the product, the carbon footprint, and more. 

The carbon footprint is the most important of the facts, as it calculates the emissions throughout the product’s lifecycle. With this information provided on a product, companies offer complete transparency regarding their carbon emissions, while buyers can be cautious about sustainability when purchasing products. 

Carbon labels can be found on a variety of products from food to shampoo bottles. Some of the brands using carbon labels include Oatly, Cocokind, Unilever, Panera Bread, certain grocery stores, and more. 

Lots of brands haven’t caught up with the trend yet, but the tendency is growing and it’s only a matter of time until consumers begin to expect to see this information on all products. 

“Today, we are at the stage where companies are proactively choosing to include carbon footprint information, primarily as a way to burnish their green credentials and enhance their brand,” says Euan Murray, chief executive of the Sustainability Consortium, a nonprofit that works with consumer goods companies to help them improve sustainability. “But as this information becomes more widespread, it’ll help create a race to the top, where companies work hard to reduce the impact of their products year-on-year. And consumer awareness, literacy, and willingness to act will all grow over time.”