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All products and services have a carbon footprint. It is the total amount of CO2 and other greenhouse gases that are emitted as part of a product's manufacture, transportation, distribution, use and disposal e.g. with an iron this includes; the energy used to make the components, the energy and heat used by the factory to make it, the fuel used to ship to the country it’s being sold in, the power used when you iron at home and how it is disposed of when it comes to the end of its life.

A carbon footprint is important as it measures the impact that your activities have on the environment and therefore on climate change. All activities you do and products and services you use in daily life have one.

The Carbon Reduction Label indicates that a company has undertaken a measurement of the carbon footprint of their product or service and that the company is committed to reducing that footprint over the following two years. It is an independent label, based on a recognised standard, which is issued from the Carbon Trust. The full logo looks like this.

We've worked with the Carbon Trust to establish a carbon footprint on nine of our steam irons in the UK. We looked at the raw materials used to manufacture the product through to how the consumer uses the iron and the final disposal of the product.

We started with our most popular models, which cover a cross section of model specification and prices. These models will give you a good idea of your own iron’s carbon footprint.

Each of the nine irons has a different footprint, this is simply due to the size and wattage of the iron – the bigger the iron and higher the wattage the larger the carbon footprint.

For example, more raw materials and individual parts are needed to make larger irons in the Comfigrip and Advanced Finish ranges compared with a Turbosteam iron. Also higher wattage irons use more energy when ironing your clothes.

The assessment has been conducted in accordance with the PAS 2050 specification which measures the greenhouse gas emissions of goods and services across their lifecycle, from production of the raw materials, through to use and disposal of the product.

This methodology is the most widely consulted upon method for calculating product carbon footprints. It is rigorous and reliable and was developed by the British Standards Institute (BSI), the UK Government Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the Carbon Trust, with extensive consultation from more than a 1,000 stakeholders from business, NGOs and Government. This process has benefited from input from expert work groups; support via commissioned research; and insights that arose from testing the draft standard with pilot companies.

Our Advanced Finish Steam Iron (40746) has a carbon footprint of 40g per men’s shirt. This footprint is split down in to 5 key segments:

1. Raw materials – 4.5% of the total carbon footprint
2. Manufacture – 8.5% of the total carbon footprint
3. Retail & Distribution – 0.5% of the total carbon footprint
4. Use – 86.3% of the total carbon footprint
5. Disposal – 0.2% of the total carbon footprint

Although a high percentage of an iron's carbon footprint is when the iron is being used, we understand how important it is to try and reduce the emissions through all the stages of the its lifecycle. That’s why we’re committed to reducing the carbon footprint over the coming years.

We’re already making changes...

1. At our head office and distribution centre, we recycle materials including cardboard, shrink wrap, stainless steel and power cables, all of which avoid being sent to landfill.
2. We've been awarded the ‘Accreditation for Achievements in Energy Efficiency’ from the Institute of Energy for our energy saving initiatives at our head office. These include our light and heat controllers that are monitored through sensor and timing controls throughout the building, as well as using low energy fork lift truck chargers.
3. We've redesigned (where we can) the size of our product packaging allowing us to improve all aspects of the supply chain from warehouse storage through to transportation.
4. Approximately 80% of all our product packaging is now made from recycled cardboard. Not only that, we have removed polystyrene (where we can) from our packaging and replaced it with recycled cardboard fitments.
5. We're always striving to design and develop future products that are energy efficient, thus helping to reduce our carbon footprint even further.

We will be continuously updating our website but you can also find out more from the follow in websites owned by the Carbon Trust.
www.carbon-label.com
www.carbontrust.co.uk