What Our Certifications Actually Cover: B Corp, The Climate Label, and 1% for the Planet
In an era of greenwashing, sustainability claims on a merch supplier's website can sometimes lack third party verification.
Topiku does things differently. We hold three: B Corp, The Climate Label (issued by Change Climate), and 1% for the Planet. Here is what each one actually covers, and what it does not.
B Corp
B Corp certification is issued by B Lab after an assessment across five areas: governance, workers, community, environment, and customers. B Lab asks for documentation on all five and audits a sample. Our certification was completed in 2023. Our score is public and searchable on the B Corp directory. Anyone evaluating us can look up exactly where we performed well and where we did not.
The useful thing for a procurement team: B Corp is independently verified. The less useful thing: it assesses the company, not the product. B Corp does not verify individual product claims. If you ask about a specific material and we point to the B Corp logo, that logo is not the answer to your question.
The Climate Label
The Climate Label, issued by Change Climate, covers our carbon offset programme. We purchase verified offsets that cover more than our measured production footprint. Our life cycle assessment, conducted in 2022, established the baseline. The Climate Label verifies that the offsets we purchase against that baseline meet the required standard.
What it does not cover: it does not certify the carbon footprint of any individual hat. The 2022 LCA gives us a per-hat figure and The Climate Label verifies the offsets we purchase against it, but the two are separate documents covering separate things.
1% for the Planet
1% for the Planet is a giving commitment. Our formal policy is to give at least 2% of annual revenue to environmental causes, and we have met that policy every year since 2022. 1% for the Planet membership verifies that we meet at least their 1% minimum and that the organisations we direct our giving to are approved environmental non-profits.
What it does not cover: it is a giving certification, not a sourcing or production certification. A company can hold 1% for the Planet membership and make its products any way it chooses.
What to ask instead
Each certification covers something specific. The questions none of them answer directly are: where exactly is the hat made, by whom, from what materials, and under what working conditions?
For those questions: the hats are made by the artisan team at Esduabelas, a workshop in Desa Rahayu, Bandung, Indonesia, led by Rian, the same supplier we have worked with since 2015. Materials are upcycled cotton twill from curtain-maker leftovers and deadstock, among other repurposed materials. We pay our supplier above the regional standard and settle every invoice before the end of the month.
Those answers do not come from a certification. They come from the supplier relationship. We are happy to give them to any procurement team that asks.
Works Cited
B Lab. About B Corp Certification. https://www.bcorporation.net/en-us/certification/
Change Climate. The Climate Label. https://changeclimate.org/
1% for the Planet. About. https://www.onepercentfortheplanet.org/about
Topiku Life Cycle Assessment, 2022.
