From the very start, Looptworks was founded as a force for good. Our goal: to bring an end to waste. So, we've strived only to manufacture products using materials that already exist.

Preserving air and water is a side effect of utilizing pre and post-consumer materials.

By avoiding the use of virgin made materials through upcycling, water is conserved. In addition, the use of excess materials extends their usable life, diverting these textiles from the waste stream, where they would have ended their journey in landfills or incinerated. Both are undesired ends, which result in polluting the air. Even more concerning — in addition to the resulting air toxicity, it has a cumulative effect on climate pollution, contributing to climate change.

2018 Natural Resource Conservation by the numbers

Water: 5,592,666+  gallons of water conserved
Excess Diverted: 8,878 lbs of materials diverted from the waste stream

Accomplishments and Partnerships

2018 was a banner year for Looptworks, with some significant events taking place. Our partnership with Delta Air Lines has gone on record as one of the largest company-wide textile diversion programs to date. 

Working with teams at Delta on a company-wide collection program, over 350,000 lbs of retired uniforms and materials were collected.

Working with non-profits that provide job training and employment to adults with barriers to employment, the materials were sorted into one of three streams: donations, upcycling and downcycling. Usable clothing was donated to the Salvation Army, while we upcycled viable materials, transforming it into the Delta Upcycle Project Collection. (click here to learn more) 

Besides the monumental launch of this initiative, we continued our partnerships with Southwest Airlines, continuing to transform retired leather seat covers into new bags and travel accessories: the In Flight Collection.

We also launched partnerships with Royal Robbins, Patagonia, the University of Oregon and all 30 NBA teams to transform pre and post-consumer materials into new collections of upcycled products. 

New Retail Workshop location, additional partnerships, bigger impacts

In the latter part of the year, we moved into a larger retail/ workshop space and have brought on additional staff.

Our new location allows us to host visitors more frequently, and we have a number of workshops and open houses planned for 2019 so we can share our processes and passion for sustainable manufacturing.

Carbon offset shipping program advances

In 2017 we partnered with the Bonneville Environmental Foundation, also known as BEF, to initiate a pilot program to reduce the impact of shipping goods. When checking out, customers are presented with the option to offset the carbon impact of shipping a product. In the first few months of this new program, 94 customers elected to offset the impact of shipping their item. 12 carbon offsets were purchased, removing 26,000 pounds of carbon.

In 2018 this number rose substantially, with 346 customers opting to offset the impact of shipping. This was used to purchase 34 carbon offsets which effectively cancels just under 75,000 pounds of CO2. This is the equivalent of around 83,000 miles driven by an average passenger vehicle.

Using the EPA's Greenhouse gas equivalencies calculator, this is equal to the amount of carbon sequestered by 40 acres of US forests in one year, or 11.9 tons of waste recycled instead of landfilled!

Offsetting our impact: B-Corp Recertification

From the beginning of Looptworks, we have had goals to offset our environmental impacts as a company. The B-Corp assessment asks companies for their Greenhouse Gas Emissions in 3 scopes. This year, Looptworks was able to calculate our impact in terms of Scope 1 (direct, natural gas emissions) and Scope 2 (indirect electrical emissions). Scope 3 is much more detailed in measurement and documenting our impact in this area has been identified as an area for improvement.

In order to measure our impacts and find offsetting solutions, Looptworks works with the Bonneville Environmental Foundation (B.E.F.) which is an Oregon-based non-profit organization that empowers businesses to be in balance with the environment through a full suite of products, programs and custom solutions that help address a company’s environmental footprint. Through B.E.F., we’ve purchased carbon offsets to neutralize the impact of our electricity and natural gas usage. By partnering with B.E.F. Looptworks has offset 13,228 lbs of carbon dioxide, or the equivalent of emissions associated with 15,905 vehicle-miles traveled.

References:

The National Academies Press: Waste Incineration Overview 
Gaia — Burning Plastic: Incineration Causes Air Pollution, Dioxin Emissions, Cost Overruns