We built this company on the belief that we can change the world with our products and what they are designed to do. We built this company on togetherness, working as a team and using crowdfunding as a financial basis. We built this company based on ethical values, where human, animal and nature rights are crucial in everything we do. Dive deeper - read below!

We are a diverse group of passionate individuals that share the company values. Our head office is based in the Swedish University town of Lund in the same building as our Active Lab. This is where most of us spend our work days, but we also have team members in Stockholm, New York, Riga, Singapore, etc

The term originated in the 1960s meaning: “behaviour or activities that make people believe that a company is doing more to protect the environment than it really is”. Greenwashing is an attempt to capitalize on a growing demand for environmentally friendly products, by conveying a false impression that they are more natural, healthier, free of chemicals, recyclable, or less wasteful of natural resources.

This is the Achilles' heel of the entire fashion industry - one of the most polluting industries on Earth. One of the world's largest employers. How can any fashion company even claim that they are friendly to the environment and humans, when 90% of the wastewater in developing countries is discharged into rivers without treatment? When it takes 20,000 liters of water to produce just 1kg of cotton! When it takes 200 years to decompose synthetic fibers! When a monthly salary for a worker is as low as USD26! When there are 1.4 million injuries in fashion industry workplaces each year! When around 27 million of its worldwide workers are suffering from work-related illnesses and diseases! The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that 24.9 million people worldwide are victims of forced labour! And the list goes on...

The damage is increasing as the industry grows, and it's so easy to turn one's head away and close one's eyes to this. We are carried away by influencers #OOTD and want the same success style, we are moved by multi million marketing campaigns and need to follow and above all - shopping has never been easier. One click away on any device and your must-have is delivered over the next few days. Sustainability is an inconvenient and awkward word, when the desire to buy rises within us. Or it might be the fake sales trick that attracts you to shop AND feel good about it, although you know deep down that it is not.

So, how can we, as a fashion industry company, motivate our BEING at all? Should we just stop?

As mentioned here we produce a product that doesn’t exist on the market, with the intention of inspiring and enabling people to choose a more sustainable lifestyle and basically choose our backpack over the car (!). We work with smaller quantities, a transparent and controlled production process and use eco-friendly and recycled materials. On top of that, we genuinely back up our claims with facts, details and second and third party certifications. This is something we are very proud about, but it doesn’t stop here. We are committed to becoming climate negative in a few years time and are currently working on projects that merge sustainable technology with circular fashion.

Read all about certifications and commitments below.

In 2020 we reached a big milestone: we teamed up with Climate Neutral, a non-profit organization that is supporting businesses to reach carbon neutrality. They help us to understand the impact of our actions so that we can be at the forefront of taking climate-positive steps for a greener future.

By holding a Climate Neutral Certification we are committed and obligated to be completely transparent. We must share information, measure impacts and calculate our CO2 balance to the company levels (our corporate carbon footprints). Today, we are proud of being 100% carbon neutral across our entire operation and supply chain.

We offset all our emissions through Climate Neutral restoration and conservation projects in Katingan, Indonesia (one of our largest remaining peatlands), Amazonian forests in Acre, Brazil and native American hardwoods in North America.

Read more on our Climate Neutral <3 IAMRUNBOX page

Read more about Climate Neutral here

Since December 2021 we are proud holders of a B Corporations Certification. Our mission is to redefine success in business and build a more inclusive and sustainable economy.  Here is our B.Corp Page.
We are also listed on the B.Corp Climate Collective page as one of 4 Swedish companies that will achieve Net Zero carbon emissions by 2030. This is BIG and we couldn’t be more proud!  Look for IAMRUNBOX AB here.

B Corp meets the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose. The community works toward reduced inequality, lower levels of poverty, a healthier environment, stronger communities, and the creation of more high quality jobs with dignity and purpose.
Read more about B.Corp here

As part of our social responsibility, all of our associated factories have external third party enforced compliance control and checks on an annual basis. We ensure that the people who manufacture our products are treated with respect and have safe and secure working conditions.

These third party-audits are made by BSCI (Business Social Compliance Initiative). Their forceful code of conduct has 11 principles that range from fair salary to no child labour, along with a step-by-step approach that makes it easier for our suppliers to put sustainable trade at the heart of their business.

Read more about BSCI here

Another social auditing methodology we use for external conformity controls and compliance checks is SMETA (Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit). It is the most commonly used social audits in the world, enabling businesses to assess their suppliers, observe health and safety for workers, and communicate zero tolerance of human rights abuses such as child and forced labour. Their vision reads “We believe every person working in the supply chain should have equality, a safe place to work, and the means to support themselves and their families, free of bribery and corruption, using sustainable methods that keep the environment intact for future generations.” Sedex and their members impact the lives of 33 million people globally. Read more here.

SME means Small and Medium-sized Enterprises. And these knights, including us, commit to immediate action for the Climate, in alignition with and recognition of the latest climate science and the United Nations Race to Zero campaign.

Read in detail about the bravery by clicking this link. The exact wording of the SME Climate Commitment goes like this:

“Recognising that climate change poses a threat to the economy, nature and society-at-large, our company commits to take action immediately in order to:

1. Halve our greenhouse gas emissions before 2030

2. Achieve net zero emissions before 2050

1. 3. Disclose our progress on a yearly basis
2.  

In doing so, we are proud to be recognised by the United Nations Race to Zero campaign, and join governments, businesses, cities, regions, and universities around the world with the same mission.”

It’s not a no-brainer. It's science. The translation for the average human reads: the balance between the amount of greenhouse gases produced AND the amount removed from the atmosphere. Check our little infographic drawing to the right to understand better, or deep dive into longer texts on the B.Corp Climate Collective Net Zero by 2030 page here (where we are also a member of course).

The SME Climate Commitment is one of the three pillars of the SME Climate Hub and provides SMEs - no 1 matter their sector or geography - with the opportunity to make an internationally recognised climate commitment which is aligned with the latest climate science. 

SMEs that make the SME Climate Commitment will be recognised by the United Nations Race to Zero campaign and join a wide range of governments, businesses, cities, regions, and universities around the world that are committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions

In 2015, the landmark Paris Agreement was signed by 196 countries with the overarching objective of “holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, recognising that this would significantly reduce the risks and impacts of climate change.” In 2018, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - the leading scientific body for climate change - issued a major report called the IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C, in which over 6000 climate scientists stated that to avoid the worst effects of climate change, we must limit global warming to Version 1.0. Document is last revised on September 20, 2020 and will be regularly updated. 1.5°C. Current estimates suggest that we have already reached global warming of approximately 1°C and if we continue on the current trajectory, we will reach global warming of 1.5°C between 2030 and 2052. As long as we keep emissions above zero, the planet will continue to heat and that is why it is also important to reach a state where the greenhouse gases going into the atmosphere are balanced by permanent removal out of the atmosphere (net zero) as quickly as possible and by no later than 2050. This objective can only be met if everyone contributes to a global collaborative effort - and that means every business of every size, sector and geography, including SMEs, must do its part.

Social Compliance:

Compliance with industry standards /ILO Core Convention for all suppliers of finished goods, trims and materials in accordance with SDG 3, SDG 5, SDG 8, and SDG 10.

• Human Rights:

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Embed Human Rights across our operations and suppliers. Positively impact communication where IAMRUNBOX is present in accordance with SDG 3, SDG 4, SDG 5, and SDG 10.

• Health and Safety:

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We aim for zero fatal accidents and to prevent injuries in accordance with SDG 3.

• Stakeholder Engagement:

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We strive to have open dialogue with our shareholders providing accurate information, ensuring public document reporting, and required consumer information in accordance with SDG 17.

• Governance:

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We maintain and run a state of the art Compliances Management System which includes anti-corruption measures in accordance with SDG 8 and SDG 16

• Materials:

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We select the most sustainable alternatives to be used as main materials for our products in accordance with SDG 12 and SDG 15.

• Chemicals:

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We always make sure to avoid discharges of hazardous chemicals to the environment throughout our production cycle in accordance with SDG 3 and SDG 6.

• Climate:

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We are a CO2 neutral company in accordance with SDG 13

• Water and Air quality:

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We follow the industry good practice guidelines in accordance with SDG 6.

An average of 325 million metric tons of meat is produced each year. Raising animals for food requires extreme amounts of land, food, energy, and water and causes enormous animal suffering.

The meat industry generates 18,5% of all global greenhouse gas emissions, and an estimated 70% of deforestation in the Amazon basin can be attributed to cattle ranching. “Aha, but I thought that soy was responsible for that?” In fact, 70% of the world's soy is fed directly to livestock and 6% of soy is turned into human food. That 70% of soy could instead end world hunger.

Luckily we see a big change in the way people consume meat today, and that is due to transparent information as well as businesses taking responsibility for their actions.

 If we, as a company, promote a sustainable lifestyle, it needs to come across on all levels. Therefore we strongly dissociate ourselves from anything that harms animals and nature. We are not using animal products in our production, we make sure that no animal testing is done, and as a team we promote plant-based food.

The forestry industry has a bad reputation of causing significant problems like illegal logging, human rights violations and harmful deforestation worldwide.

As mentioned here, all our packaging materials are made of recycled FSC certified paper.

FSC stands for Forest Stewardship Council and they have 25 years of experience in sustainable forest management. A certification by them ensures that products come from responsibly managed forests that provide environmental, social and economic benefits.

Read more about FSC and their tremendous work here