Sustainability

Sustainability concerns us all. More and more customers want to shop more sustainably. As an online retailer, we can do our share. Not primarily in terms of our own carbon emissions as a company, but as an information and inspiration platform that dispels myths, creates transparency and makes carbon-neutral shopping possible.

Moralising isn’t our thing. And we won't impose socio-ethical discussion on you either. We’ll leave that to others. Nevertheless, the «Fridays for Future» demonstrations, the vegan trend or the green political wave that’s currently sweeping across Europe clearly show that sustainability and climate protection are on people's minds. And that's not going to change anytime soon. Bush fires in Australia, glacier recession in the mountains or heat-related crop failures in recent years have proven that climate change is tangible. It makes adolescents take to the streets to protest and causes heated discussions at many family dinners. As a consumer paradise, we can’t ignore this. Dealing with sustainability and climate change requires a clear strategy.

The topic has been preying on our minds for quite a while. About a year ago, we defined what sustainability means to us and how we want to tackle the issue. Pseudo activism was never an option for us, so we took a scientific approach to climate protection – with surprising results. Initial calculations carried out by our partner South Pole reveal that Digitec Galaxus AG’s own carbon emissions constitute no more than one to two per cent across the entire value chain. In Germany it0s even less, as we don’t have any stores. When buying a laptop, garden table or frying pan, the lion's share of the carbon footprint is generated during the extraction of raw materials, production, transport to the final destination, operation and disposal. This means, it’s us, the consumers, who can make the biggest impact on reducing carbon emissions.

We’re staying true to our mission

You alone decide what the consequences of these facts are for you as a consumer. Our mission is to give you all the information and services you need to combine sustainability and shopping – the way that’s right for you. For Galaxus, sustainability means the following:

• Reducing our company's own carbon footprint by optimising our own value chain and consistently focussing on resource efficiency. The greatest potential lies in transport, energy, heat and packaging.
• Offering you the possibility to make carbon-neutral purchases. If you choose to, you can make up for all shopping-related carbon emissions by purchasing climate certificates – in a simple and efficient way.

We’ve been working on implementing the sustainability strategy since the beginning of the year 2020. We’ll keep you informed about our plans and progress surrounding sustainability. You’ll find current articles on the subject of sustainability here.