O My Bag is a leather bag and accessories brand. Their timeless products are designed in Amsterdam, and manufactured in Kolkata, India. The company was founded in 2011 as a social enterprise with the aim to not only be profitable, but also give back by approaching business in a fair, environmentally friendly and responsible manner. Using business as a force for good, O My Bag wants to create a positive difference in the world - one bag at a time.
Impact measurement
Knowing what impact is caused, and why and where in the supply chain it occurs, is the first step and a prerequisite to effectively reducing impact. This is why O My Bag teamed up with consultancy firm Sustainalize to measure the carbon footprint of the company. A carbon footprint analysis was done in accordance with the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol, including Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. To assess the Scope 3 emissions of its products, O My Bag performed a Life Cycle Assessment of its Luna and Lucy bags - two bestsellers that are representative of their whole collection. This allowed O My Bag to estimate the carbon footprint of its entire product portfolio, extrapolating and capturing upstream Scope 3 emissions.
In addition, business air miles, business mileage in private cars, and commuting were also considered. Since the study was performed as a cradle to gate analysis, downstream emissions, meaning shipping to customers, use phase and end of life, have not been considered due to the high data uncertainty. O My Bag plans to include these stages when the analysis is repeated next time.
Targets are set!
The results of the carbon footprint analysis provide a foundation for both a quick-win and long term strategy aimed at improving the environmental performance of O My Bag’s operations and supply chain. The main impacts are caused during transportation to the Netherlands, in the raw material stage and in the component processing phase. That’s why O My Bag’s reduction measures relate to shipping, but also to low impact materials.
The company set several goals to reduce its Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. Since O My Bag is a growing company, total emissions will increase, at least in the medium term. That’s why the company looks at its carbon intensity, setting carbon emissions in relation to annual revenue. The Goal is to decrease carbon intensity over time, at least by 20% by 2022.
This overarching goal was broken down into the following specific targets:
-
Shipping
Increasing inbound sea shipments to at least 20% by 2021. Reducing outbound emissions by looking into low emission options like electric vehicles and efficiency measures -
Sustainable materials
Lower the footprint per product by 10% by 2022, by increasing the amount of recycled and certified components and raw materials -
Reduce energy use at the office by 15% by 2022
-
Business flights are limited to the very minimum
O My Bag will keep track of its environmental footprint and re-evaluate its reduction targets on a bi-annual basis. Reduction measures have already started. For example, the production and logistics department are improving O My Bag’s forecasting to meet the new sea shipping targets and recycled cotton fabric has been picked to substitute the current virgin GOTS cotton fabrics used for lining and dustbags of the O My Bag products.
Compensating remaining emissions
O My Bag compensated all their remaining emissions for 2020. Based on O My Bag’s strong connection to India and women empowerment, they decided to support the FairClimateFund project providing households in India with cleaner cookstoves.
Photo's: O My Bag
