A ton mile gives us a measurement term to talk about the carbon footprint of shipping an item. It also helps us compare the impact of shipping products using different transport methods. Unless he overdid it on the brussel sprouts last night, the carbon emissions of a moose walking a mile down Main Street is going to be far less than the carbon emissions of a cargo plane moving pirate gold to their secret grotto. AsScope5 puts it: “Not all ton-miles are equivalent in terms of their impact.” CarbonFund provides a breakdown of types of shipping, in order of least impact to most impact:

As you can see, shipping by plane lets off the most carbon emissions per ton mile. The ocean shipping carbon footprint is 30 times less.

Because our products are manufactured inCambodia and China, we need a way to get them to our customers around the world. Truck and train aren’t always feasible with geography, so we’re leaning into ocean shipping as much as possible going forward. In fact, in our 2020 impact report, we highlighted our ocean shipping carbon footprint as one of our top opportunities to focus on this year

So, how are we going to do more ocean shipping?

Meet the Climate Friendly Shipping Option.

Officially branded in 2020, this program means our customers who choose to ship their custom orders via ocean instead of plane get a discount (and it’s a good one). Even better? This shipping option is 91% more efficient than shipping by air. Reduces carbon and money--win-win! And that's not all: the Climate Friendly Shipping Option also comes with a whole lot of help. Because we get it: air freight is used when timelines are tight. It gets there faster. But if you want to do things differently, our team will sit down with you to help plan ahead and figure out the best timeline to get you the product you need in a price- and planet-friendly way.

Take it from one of our clients….

Vegetable and Butcher, based out of Washington, D.C., ordered 250 units of To-Go Ware Classic Utensil sets.

This purchase alone resulted in:

• An estimated 325,000 single-use items bags not thrown away.
• An estimated 9,386 kilograms of greenhouse gases not released (equivalent to not driving a typical car 22,838 miles!)

Vegetable and Butcher then chose the sea freight shipping option, in doing so saving 11% off the purchase price and reducing their overall shipping carbor footprint by 91%. With a little extra planning ahead, the Climate Friendly Shipping Option is gooc for your budget and good for the environment. Not a custom ChicoBag consumer? You can still reap the benefits of sea freight shipping. All our standard products purchased wholesale or directly off our web site were brought from our factories to our distribution warehouses by boat! And of course we couldn't end without a plug for conscious purchasing no matter where you shop online. Faster, overnight, or last-minute purchases are usually carried out with air shipments and a high cost to planet Earth. Make it a point to think about your ocean shipping carbon footprint. The next time you want to order a moose or bar of gold, plan ahead. Look for ways to bundle, delay, slow down, or minimize the impact of your shipping.