Sustainability is important to us and hardly any topic is more urgent than reducing CO 2 emissions. FIVE has been trying for years to keep emissions low through vegan ingredients and the avoidance of unnecessary packaging. Now the remaining CO 2 emissions are compensated. We support certified projects in Ghana and Rwanda, which also benefits the people, especially the women, in both countries.
FIVE is now carbon neutral. Huuuraaa!
FIVE for Future
Everyone, regardless of whether they are consumers, politicians or entrepreneurs, has an ecological responsibility for our future. Yes, you have responsibilities too, but that's not what today is about (phew!). So you can keep reading. At FIVE, we try to do our part by...
- if possible, use organic raw materials that have been proven to produce around 30 percent less CO 2 emissions,
- do without additional folding boxes - the things that usually end up in the waste paper after 2 minutes,
- only use vegan ingredients , as livestock causes 15 percent of all greenhouse gases. Buuuhhh!
🌍 And from now on, we will also compensate for the remaining climate gas CO 2 caused by our company and production. Means: We are 100 percent climate neutral!
Since you are interested in natural cosmetics, sustainability is certainly very important to you. You are probably also aware that CO 2 and other greenhouse gases are a major problem for the climate on our planet.
As a global population, we currently produce around 40 gigatonnes of CO 2 per year . But what does that mean?
Let's assume you have a new smartphone and you take photos and videos every day and you need 40 gigatons of storage space per year. Then you should be asking yourself by now at the latest: How much storage space does my smartphone have?
For comparison, the total CO 2 budget that is left for Mother Earth to avoid uncontrolled climate change with such great things as the melting of the polar ice caps and an inexorable increase in temperature every year is about 400 to 600 gigatonnes .
This is our "storage space" - but unfortunately we can't order a new smartphone this time (crap!). In other words, the Earth has a maximum of 10 to 15 years with current CO 2 emissions if business-as-usual continues . But it doesn't have to! And that's why we now have to massively reduce all greenhouse gases. We must do something NOW!
OK, but what does climate neutral even mean?
Of course, the operation of FIVE and the manufacture of our products releases CO 2 , even if natural cosmetics are less harmful to the climate than conventional cosmetics.
We cannot prevent certain CO 2 emissions at the moment , as this would require a complete energy transition. The energy would have to come 100 percent from renewable sources, such as wind and sun for all areas. In addition, more efficient energy storage would be needed and all orders would have to be delivered by bicycle or electric car.
It actually sounds pretty good. And although we support such a development 100 percent, unfortunately we cannot implement it alone. That's why we're doing what we can currently do as a small company - even if it costs us money: offsetting CO 2 ! And we would wish that many larger companies would soon follow this trend.
But how does CO 2 compensation work, or is it just "greenwashing"?
Nope! Where the CO 2 is released is irrelevant for the global climate. It therefore makes sense to save CO 2 where it is easiest: Projects that demonstrably save CO 2 emissions are supported financially.
Our CO 2 emissions are calculated by a neutral body (ClimatePartner) and we pay an amount that saves the same amount of CO 2 elsewhere in the world . The bottom line is that no additional CO 2 enters our overburdened atmosphere. Hence the term “climate neutral”.
Of course we continue to try to keep waste and CO 2 emissions as low as possible . And precisely because we are now paying voluntarily for every gram of CO 2 that we emit, we naturally also have an economic interest in keeping our CO 2 balance as low as possible. It's as if, from now on, you had to throw a few centimes into a money box for every photo you take with your mobile phone.
What do stoves have to do with climate change?
First of all, we decided on a certified climate project that helps the local people in Ghana, where some of our shea butter for FIVE Shea Cream comes from. In Ghana, unfortunately, many families still cook on an open fire. That may sound romantic to us, but it's very unhealthy in closed rooms.
In addition, open fireplaces and inefficient old stoves - so-called coal pots - are very poor in terms of energy consumption and therefore have a lousy CO 2 emission balance .
The solution: Better cooking stoves that are locally made and can retain significantly more heat with ceramic cladding. The project demonstrably reduces CO 2 , creates jobs and protects the health of families, especially women, in Ghana.
The ceramic inserts are handcrafted locally
Finished ceramic inserts before they are installed in the cooking stoves
Update May 2021:
The project in Ghana has meanwhile been successfully completed . From May 2021 we will therefore support the project for clean cooking stoves in Nyungwe, Rwanda.
Clean cooking stoves for Rwanda
The Nyungwe Forest National Park in southwest Rwanda is one of the largest mountain rainforests in Africa and offers a wide variety of animal and plant species. However, the area around the park is densely populated. The population is growing, more and more firewood is needed, which threatens the unique ecosystem.
Populated area at Nyungwe Forest National Park in southwest Rwanda
The climate protection project enables families to reduce wood consumption . Traditionally, cooking is done over an open fire. The enormous smoke pollution is not only harmful to health, but also inefficient and requires a lot of firewood from the forest. The cooking stoves introduced by the climate protection project from local sand and clay are manufactured in a local cooperative and consume two thirds less fuel .
The Canarumwe model is made by a local cooperative
The stoves are offered at low cost, making them affordable even for low-income households
If you shop with us, you indirectly support this project in Rwanda and help to reduce CO 2 emissions. So in the end it's about you. 😉
Further information
- Climate protection project "Clean Stoves" Region Gyapa, Ghana
- Climate protection project "Clean stoves" Nyungwe region, Rwanda
- Certificate climate-neutral company and products 2020
- Certificate climate-neutral company and products 2021
- Certificate climate-neutral company and products 2022
- Certificate climate-neutral company and products 2023
- Compensated amount in detail