Planet
We commit to sustaining and, where possible,
regenerating the ecological
systems upon which we all rely.
In a very real, unprecedented manner, climate change and resource depletion are exposing us to significant risks that will impact our lifestyles and livelihoods.
We embrace our responsibility to reduce the environmental impact of our operations and empower our members to do the same. Together we can transform these incredible challenges into new opportunities.
Our philosophy
We conduct business in a way that’s sustainable for all our stakeholders. We have initiatives to reduce our operational footprint, engage our marketplace and suppliers, and allow us to share openly—so that others can benefit from lessons we learn along the way.
Our approach
Over the past two years, we’ve established a system to measure and reduce our ecological impact, including engaging our marketplace and suppliers and sharing openly with our peers. In 2014 we created the Etsy Sustainability Commission (ESC), in an effort to further accelerate and broaden the scope of our sustainability work.
Photo by Emily Andrews
Understanding our impact
How we measure it
Our environmental impact is complex and ever-changing. As a result of our rapid growth, we’re opening new offices around the world, traveling more between offices, and expanding our data centers. To measure and begin to mitigate our impact, we have prioritized the areas that are a direct result of our business operations. We hope to include other impact areas in future reporting, ever striving to com- prehensively understand the connection points between our business, our communities, and the natural world.
Energy
Our business relies on energy to run our data centers and to power and heat our offices. We are always looking for ways to reduce our energy consumption and transition to cleaner and renewable sources of power.
Per employee
8,517
kWh
2013
10,897
kWh
2014
kWh per $1,000 GMS
2.6
kWh
2013
2.6
kWh
2014
Water
While water use is a small portion of our total environmental footprint, it has tremendous importance as a natural resource.
In 2014 we used
2,047
cubic meters of water
across all offices
3.83
cubic meters of water
per person
Waste
We reduced the waste we sent to landfills in 2014 through better signage and closely monitoring the packaging and products we brought into our offices.
Percentage of waste diverted from landfill
53%
2013
67%
2014
34,137 lbs
of waste was diverted from landfills through our recycling and composting efforts.
Find out more
Further reading on Waste
Business travel
The greatest carbon consumption from our business travel is from flying.
Last year Etsy employees flew approximately
5.4 million miles
for work.
Greenhouse gas emissions:
air travel per employee
2.5
metric tons
CO2e
2013
2.4
metric tons
CO2e
2014
Commuting
Our annual employee commuting survey showed that we favor people-powered and public transit modes of transportation.
12%
of Etsy employees drive
to work
Overall emissions from employee commuting grew by only 9% in 2014, despite our headcount increasing by 38%.
Greenhouse gas emissions:
commuting per employee
509
CO2
emissions
2013
439
CO2
emissions
2014
Marketplace shipping
The greatest contributor to our environmental footprint is the shipping of items between sellers and buyers.
In 2014
tens of
millions of items
were shipped through
the Etsy platform.
They were shipped
120
billion
miles
around the world.
Photo by Christopher Stark
Greenhouse gas footprint
How we measure it
The shipment of products between buyers and sellers in our marketplace contributes to 97.4% of our total footprint, making it the largest contributor to our emissions. As a technology company our data centers around the world are the second largest contributor, followed closely by business travel.
Total greenhouse gas footprint: 2014
Crafting connections
The vendors and makers throughout our supply chain are a key component of the Etsy ecosystem. We celebrate these relationships as a source of inspiration and an opportunity to share our mission and values with other businesses.
Find out moreFurther reading on Crafting connections
Data transparency
At Etsy we love data. We endeavor to be as thorough and comprehensive as possible in the collection of our resource use and environmental impact data. We improve on this effort each year. In addition, we provide transparency to the methodologies we use to calculate and estimate our environmental footprint. In this section we present more detailed information about what data was available last year and how we capture, analyze, and report on our key environmental impact areas.