Sustainability Report Q1 - The Sustainability Report

Sustainability report

Q1 - January - March 2019

Big companies report their profits in quarterly earnings reports. We think companies should be accountable for more than just profits. Our Sustainability at Reformation framework sets our goals and priorities for the next five years. We want to give you an update on how we are progressing towards those goals.

Carbon is canceled

We believe climate change is the biggest issue facing our planet. We’ve been carbon neutral since 2015. It’s one of the simplest things we do to be sustainable. So we’re introducing programs that make it super easy for you to reduce your carbon footprint too. In case you missed it, get involved here.

Ref × Arcadia Power

Electric power accounts for about 25% of all CO2 emissions in the US. We’re partnering with Arcadia Power to work with your electricity provider to deliver your same energy while supporting clean energy projects.

Impact so far:

4.5m
Estimated annual wind power in kWh

Equivalent to:

Taking 680 cars off the road for a year

Climate Credits

You can now purchase Climate Credits—aka carbon offsets—on our site. Your Climate Credit purchase goes directly to support Gold Standard verified carbon offset projects through NativeEnergy that help counteract your personal carbon footprint for everyday life, a flight, or even a wedding.

Impact so far:

Equivalent to:

Taking over 150 cars off the road for a year

Our first project is the Honduras Coffee Growers Clean Water Project. Basically by providing clean water filters to rural families, they don’t harvest wood (aka cut down trees) and burn fires to boil drinking water. So beyond the climate impacts, this project is addressing health issues and poor indoor air quality too.

All in, it will:
Reduce 100,000 metric tons of CO2.
Deliver 205 million liters of clean water.
Help 2,200 families.

Learn more about the project here.

All in, it will:
Reduce 100,000 metric tons of CO2. Deliver 205 million liters of clean water. Help 2,200 families.

Learn more about the project here.

Ref × Osomtex

We now partner with Osomtex to upcycle our fabric scraps from our Factory in Los Angeles. Osomtex recycles the fibers into new yarns and fabrics. That reduces the need for virgin materials and diverts millions of pounds of textile waste from landfills through a mechanical process that uses no water, no dyes and no chemicals. We’re really into it.

Impact so far:

Equivalent savings:

Never not circulating

There is actually enough clothing and textiles in existence today to meet our global annual demand. In 2019, our goal is to reuse or recycle at least 100,000 garments through things like Ref Vintage sourcing, thredUP and Rent the Runway partnerships, and RefRecycling. We are on track to hit more than 2x that amount.

Impact so far:

Equivalent savings:

Sexy math

RefScale tracks our product environmental footprint in terms of water, carbon dioxide, and waste. The whole equation follows the lifecycle of clothes—everything from growing textile fibers and making fabric, dyeing, moving materials, manufacturing, packaging, shipping, garment care, and even recycling clothes when you’re done with them. We offset our footprint 100%, but always push for better materials, factories, and operations to keep our footprint as low as possible.

Here’s our impact from last quarter:

Here is what percentage we saved this quarter compared to most clothes bought in the US:

Next up

We’re investing in our programs to ensure our supply chain partners meet our social and environmental standards, and we want to make this information transparent so you know more about who makes Ref clothes. You’ll get an update on our wins so far, but also why sometimes it is so damn hard in our next Sustainability Report.