StalkMarket Products, a leading provider of compostable food service products, is proud to become the first company in its industry to gain Carbon Trust certification for carbon foot printing its sugar cane plates and bowls and only the third U.S. company to have its product footprint Carbon Trust certified!

Why Did We Calculate Our Carbon Footprint?

A carbon footprint is an estimate of the amount of greenhouse gas emitted in the production, use and disposal of a product. It is an increasingly important measure of a product's environmental impact. By calculating the carbon footprint of our leading products, we can begin to understand where we need to focus our attention to reduce that footprint.

As a recent S&P 500 report concluded:

"Armed with data on emissions from their operations and supply chains, companies can identify opportunities to reduce emissions, manage carbon risks, use resources more efficiently and cut costs."

-- Carbon Emissions - Measuring the Risks An S&P 500 NSF International Sector Report/Trucost Plc

Who Did the Calculations?

StalkMarket contracted with Portland, Oregon-based Blue Tree Strategies to conduct the carbon footprint analysis and gain third party certification from the Carbon Trust. Michael Marsolek, PhD, an assistant professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Seattle University, in Seattle, WA led the analysis. His research interests include carbon emissions analysis for large and small organizations, non-crop based biofuel production, and industrial wastewater treatment.

The Carbon Trust is a leading global authority on carbon reduction and carbon labeling. They seek to help businesses to measure, certify, reduce and communicate the lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of their products and services. The Carbon Trust also seeks to help consumers make choices that would lower their own carbon footprints.

How Did We Calculate It?

We analyzed the carbon footprint of each step in the process of producing a StalkMarket product, from raw materials to disposal. We used an independent, standardized methodology for carbon foot-printing products called PAS 2050.

PAS 2050 is a publicly available standard for assessing product life cycle greenhouse gas emissions, prepared by BSI British Standards and co-sponsored by the Carbon Trust and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). The PAS 2050 standard was developed with significant input from international stakeholders and experts across academia, business, government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

What Are the Results?

The bottom line: for every pound of StalkMarket product, 6 pounds of carbon dioxide is emitted. Is this good or bad? We won't know the answer to that question until other tableware products have analyzed and certified their carbon footprint so that we can compare and contrast this footprint with the footprint of other products.

We did find that ¾ of the carbon emissions from the full process comes from the production of the bowls and plates (aka: tableware). Only 8% of the total carbon footprint is a result of transportation (distribution and retail). This is of particular interest since our products are manufactured in Thailand and transported to the U.S.

What's Next?

StalkMarket will continue accounting for the carbon emissions of its entire product line including the Planet Plus and Jaya brands.

The results of this analysis will help inform our reduction strategy and helps us identify areas where we can work with our supply chain partners to minimize our carbon footprint and continually improve the environmental performance of all our products.

A standard methodology for carbon accounting is critical so that consumers can compare and contrast the actual environmental impacts of different product offerings. We hope others will also measure their carbon footprint so consumers can make more informed purchasing decisions.