Because we think shopping online for sustainable fashion should not be scary…we’ve decided to make it easier than ever. To this end, Greenloop is now providing FREE domestic shipping on all orders, no matter the size of the order, and FREE domestic shipping on all returns should anything be not quite right. While we’re telling you about these changes, it seems like a good idea to discuss just how ‘green’ our shipping is in general. Not to toot our own horn…well, maybe just a small toot… we have implemented several measures to make our shipping as easy on the planet as possible.

We have long been carbon neutral, and then some, though the purchase of Green Tags from the Bonneville Environmental Foundation. Green Tags are a form of carbon offset, also called renewable energy certificates, which replace traditional polluting sources of electricity with clean, secure, and sustainable renewable sources of energy that come from solar and wind power from across North America. The purchase of Green Tags supports the development of:

• Renewable energy on our power grids
• Solar power systems for schools and public buildings
• Wind power systems for farms, ranches and communities
• Watershed restoration to improve water quality and native fish habitat

Each Green Tag represents the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions that occurs when clean renewable energy replaces polluting energy sources. One Green Tag represents enough renewable energy to offset a typical home for a month with clean wind and solar power, and is equal to:

• 1,000 kilowatt-hours of renewable energy onto North America’s power grids
• 1,500 miles of offsetting emissions from a standard car

Unlike other carbon offset programs,

• The Bonneville Environmental Foundation sells Green Tags from new renewable energy built since 1999 that are displacing existing and polluting fossil-fuel generation.
• All of the renewable sources of BEF’s Green Tags meet rigorous environmental criteria endorsed by three leading environmental organizations including The Natural Resources Defense Council. The BEF is the only Green Tag provider that performs such project analyses.
• All of the Foundation’s Green Tags are certified by Green-e® Climate, a national organization that is looking out for all of our best interests.

In terms of shipping companies, Greenloop uses the USPS for all domestic, standard shipping, and either the USPS for expedited requests and international orders, or, most recently, DHL. According to Climage Counts, of the major carriers, USPS and DHL scored the highest in terms of their efforts to combat global climate change.

The companies were rated on 22 criteria in four areas:

• monitoring and measuring their carbon footprints
• taking “meaningful” steps to reduce their contribution to global warming
• lobbying for or against government action on global warming
• reporting efforts publicly

In the study, 60 companies were rated on their commitments to reducing their contribution to global warming on a scale of 1-100, with the USPS scoring 43/100 and DHL scoring 45/100. While they obviously still have a lot of work to do, they are making strides in the right direction, which something we can feel good about.

In addition to this, Greenloop ships most soft goods in lightweight plastic (polypropylene or polyethylene with minimum 35% recycled content) or tyvek bags, which according to a study by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality on packaging waste reduction, entitled, “Life Cycle Inventory: Packaging for Shipping Soft Goods in E-Commerce and Catalog Sales, ” is the best option. While not universally applicable to all shipping scenarios, the study is very informative and goes to show that stereotypes regarding eco friendly products no longer apply in many cases: when it comes shipping packaging, what looks eco friendly (ie: recycled, brown cardboard box) is not always the most eco option. There is a certain analogy here to eco-fashion… it may not look eco friendly, but it is, and that’s the best part about it. So when your Greenloop order shows up in a plastic or tyvek bag, think twice before turning your nose up at the apparently un-green packaging.

You will also notice that your package will arrive without any additional plastic around the items inside. Not only is it redundant, since the outer shipping container is water-proof and tear-proof, it’s easy for us to recycle plastic film, and it may not be for you, so we keep it.

So what are you waiting for? You probably have a few bonus dollars from that Economic Stimulus Package check, and now you have another reason for turning that wardrobe of yours the perfect shade of green…Free shipping, free returns, and they are both as green as they can be.