Environmentally-friendly packaging has become significantly more popular in recent years. Consumers of all ages, and especially those in younger demographics, are aiming to lower their carbon footprint and reduce waste. One simple way to do so is to seek out products that don’t needlessly waste materials and those that promote sustainability. Amazon is making those types of products easier to find through its Climate Pledge Friendly program.
Per the Climate Pledge Friendly page on Amazon, this program was created “to highlight products that meet sustainability standards and help preserve the natural world.” Products that feature a Climate Pledge Friendly badge give Amazon customers assurance that they are making an environmentally friendly decision with their purchase. In this blog post, I’ll cover the benefits of having the Climate Pledge Friendly badge on your products and go over how you can earn it.
Benefits to Having Products With the Climate Friendly Pledge Badge
Before we get into how you can earn the Climate Friendly Pledge badge on products in your Amazon store, let’s go over some of the reasons why it is a great idea to do so.
Helping the environment
First and foremost, creating products that use less waste and are more sustainable long-term is genuinely good for the planet. Plastics commonly used in packaging can take hundreds of years to decompose and aren’t always easy to recycle. Working with your supplier to reduce waste and excess packaging is something you can be proud of on an environmental level.
Increasing product sales among environmentally-focused customers
Looking beyond the good you can do for the environment by producing products with climate-friendly packaging, you may also see an uptick in sales as well. Amazon customers consider a number of factors when making their buying decisions on the site including the product’s price, customer reviews, description and many more. The Climate Friendly Pledge badge just gives your potential customers another reason to choose your product over the competition’s. If they are having a difficult time deciding between buying your product and a competitor’s, why wouldn’t they go with the one that was more environmentally conscious?
Establishing your brand as environmentally friendly
Being environmentally friendly can also produce great PR for your brand. After all, return customers and word of mouth referrals are valuable to Amazon businesses of all sizes. If you sell a quality product and do so in an environmentally friendly way, chances are that you are going to generate a lot of repeat business from customers who seek out brands that are doing their part to make a difference.
Qualifying Through Amazon’s Compact by Design Certification
To go along Climate Pledge Friendly program, Amazon has created Compact by Design to identify products that have the most efficient design possible. Examples of what makes a product more efficient include:
Less Packaging – Products that don’t waste unnecessary packaging space trying to stand out on a store shelf.
Less Air In Container – Using less air often leads to less packaging and/or a smaller container.
More Efficient Shape – Not all 16oz containers are created equally. Those shaped the most efficiently will use less cubic inches delivering the same amount of product.
Less Weight – Lighter packaging materials can make one container holding the same volume as another lighter and easier to ship.
Waterless Technology – Some water-based products like soap can drastically reduce size and weight by offering a waterless solid alternative.
Concentrated Products – Something like a concentrated cleaner that can be mixed at home vs. a gallon-sized pre-mixed cleaner is far more efficient.
Compact by Design uses a formula to determine the “unit efficiency” of products across many eligible categories. Unit efficiency is calculated by multiplying the cubed volume per unit and the weight per unit. Each eligible category has its own unit efficiency thresholds, which you can view here.
If your product is in an eligible category, is registered in the Amazon Brand Registry program, and meets the unit efficiency requirements laid out by Compact by Design, you should be good to go. Simply log in to your Seller Central or Vendor Central account and contact customer service to review your product for a Climate Pledge Friendly badge. There are no fees attached to participate in this program.
Qualifying Through a Third-Party Sustainability Certification
Amazon has partnered up with a handful of reputable third-party certifications that include government agencies, non-profits and independent laboratories. This list of of approved Climate Pledge Friendly certifiers is as follows:
Bluesign
Carbonfree Certified
CarbonNeutral product by Natural Capital Partners
Carbon Neutral by Carbon Trust
Carbon Neutral Certified by SCS Global Services
Certified Animal Welfare Approved
Climate neutral by ClimatePartner
Cradle to Cradle Certified
ECOLOGO
ENERGY STAR Most Efficient
EPEAT
EWG Verified
Fairtrade International
Fair for Life
The Forest Stewardship Council
Global Organic Textile Standard
Global Recycled Standard
Green Seal
Higg Index Materials
Made in Green by Oeko-Tex
Organic Content Standard 100
Rainforest Alliance
Recycled Claim Standard 100
Recycled Claim Standard Blended
Reducing CO2
Regenerative Organic Certified
Responsible Wool Standard
The U.S. EPA Safer Choice
USDA Organic
More details about these certification centers and direct links to their websites can be found on Amazon’s Climate Pledge Friendly Certifications page. Each of these sites regularly updates Amazon on brands that have received their seal of approval. So if you decide to work with any of them and your products are approved as environmentally friendly, you will automatically receive the Climate Pledge Friendly badge on your relevant Amazon listings.
Final Thoughts
If you do decide to spend the time and effort on making your products environmentally friendly, be sure to let your customers know about it. Social media outlets like TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are great to promote your climate-friendly products on. You can also incorporate your Climate Pledge Friendly badge into your advertising efforts.
Not all categories are eligible for the badge, and in some cases your product may not be the right fit. But it is worth doing some research on for the sake of both the environment and your bottom line on Amazon.
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