Sportsshoes.com celebrates 40th anniversary by offsetting 40 years of emissions
Online British sportswear and outdoor retailer Sportsshoes.com has offset all of the carbon emissions it has generated since the company’s launch in 1982.
This news coincides with SportsShoes.com celebrating its 40th anniversary and supports its previously stated commitment of becoming the world’s most sustainable running equipment retailer by 2025.
The online retailer, which achieved a carbon-neutral footprint in 2021, is continually evolving the ‘Leave No Footprints’ sustainability strategy. This plan, which was developed with the sustainable innovation consultancy Ape, supports the company in identifying and implementing more sustainable practices.
Sportsshoes.com offers more than 17,000 products from brands including Asics, Nike, Adidas, Hoka, and New Balance, all on one e-commerce platform.
The strategy, which was developed in conjunction with sustainable innovation consultancy Ape, involves a full impact assessment of the business to calculate the size and composition of its carbon footprint. This supports the company in continually identifying and implementing more sustainable practices in every aspect of its operations.
SportsShoes.com managing director, Brett Bannister, said: “We are very proud of our 40 years of business. To celebrate, we thought we would do something a bit different and take action to ensure SportsShoes.com is sustainable for another 40 years and beyond.
“We were founded at a time when very few people knew what a carbon footprint was. Now that everyone does, and now that we want to be the world’s most sustainable running equipment retailer, we must continuously improve every aspect of our business to achieve that goal.
“We have undertaken time to understand, monitor and minimise our environmental footprint including that of our supply chain and suppliers.
“We are pleased by what we have achieved so far, but also know there is a long way to go. We are not going to stand still and will keep up the pace on our sustainability journey for the benefit of everyone.”
The next big step in SportsShoes.com’s sustainability journey was exploring carbon offsetting, starting with emissions from heating, lighting and powering the business since it was founded and the previous two years of national and international distribution activities.
To offset these emissions, the company collaborated with Yorkshire-based woodland regenerative project ‘Make it Wild’, which is replanting native woodlands that are guaranteed to grow for at least 30 years.
In 2021 SportsShoes.com launched its first sustainable store. Here, the retailer works with brand partners to identify products that have a lower environmental impact, SportsShoes.com’s store features apparel and footwear that is environmentally conscious.
Ape owner, Mark Shayler, said: “Sometimes you work with a company which genuinely cares. SportsShoes.com is one such company. Not content with calculating and removing their emissions for 2020 and 2021, they have taken responsibility for a big chunk of their supply chain’s emissions too.”
