Blue Banana is aware that there is a long way to go to minimise its impact. That is why the adventure-inspired fashion brand partnered with Dcycle to measure, understand, and reduce its environmental footprint across the entire value chain.
About Blue Banana and its sustainability commitment
At Dcycle we have taken our first steps to analyze Blue Banana’s environmental impact and trace its value chain. The brand creates designs that express adventure. They identify themselves as a team that does not just make clothes to wear, but to activate and inspire.
Through honesty, commitment and respect for our planet, Blue Banana is aware that there is a long way to go in minimizing its impact. In line with these values, it has decided to create its garments only from organic cotton and recycled polyester with packaging made from recycled and compostable materials. Also, its commitment to social and environmental sustainability has led the brand to produce some of its garments in Portugal, reducing transport distances and supporting European manufacturing.
These material and production choices are a strong starting point, but without data to quantify their actual impact, it is difficult to know which decisions make the biggest difference. That is where measurement comes in.
Measuring the carbon footprint across scopes
To continue minimizing its impact, Blue Banana works with Dcycle to calculate its carbon footprint, trace its value chain and increase its transparency. So far, Dcycle has measured their Scope 1 and 2 emissions, guided their decision making in relation to energy efficiency, and begun to trace the value chain of their products.
The measurement process involved several key areas:
- Scope 1 (direct emissions): Emissions from Blue Banana’s own operations, including any company-owned vehicles used for logistics and distribution.
- Scope 2 (energy-related emissions): Electricity consumption at offices, warehouses, and retail locations. Dcycle’s platform identified opportunities to improve energy efficiency and evaluate the feasibility of switching to renewable energy contracts.
- Scope 3 (value chain emissions): This is typically the largest component for fashion brands. It includes raw material extraction and processing (organic cotton farming, recycled polyester production), manufacturing (cutting, sewing, finishing), packaging materials, shipping from factories to warehouses, and last-mile delivery to customers.
By mapping each stage of the value chain, Dcycle provides Blue Banana with a clear picture of where emissions concentrate. For most fashion brands, the raw material and manufacturing stages represent the majority of the total footprint, which means that material choices like organic cotton and recycled polyester can have a significant impact on reducing overall emissions.
Tracing the value chain for transparency
Beyond carbon footprint calculation, tracing the value chain means understanding the environmental impact at each step: from the cotton field to the customer’s doorstep. This level of transparency is increasingly expected by consumers who want to know the real story behind the products they buy.
Dcycle’s automated data collection capabilities make this process more efficient by connecting directly with supplier data, logistics records, and energy consumption information. Instead of manually gathering spreadsheets from dozens of suppliers, Blue Banana can consolidate all environmental data in one platform and track changes over time.
This approach also helps identify specific improvement opportunities. For example, if a particular shipping route or manufacturing partner has a disproportionately high impact, the data makes it visible and allows the brand to explore alternatives.
Next steps: offsetting and continuous improvement
Once its total carbon footprint is calculated, Blue Banana aims to offset its equivalent amount of CO2 emissions. At Dcycle, we keep working to make its products carbon neutral.
But offsetting is just one part of the strategy. The real value lies in using the data to make informed decisions that reduce emissions at the source. This could include:
- Consolidating shipments to reduce transport frequency
- Working with suppliers who use renewable energy in their manufacturing processes
- Optimizing packaging to reduce both material use and shipping weight
- Expanding the use of recycled materials beyond polyester
For fashion brands looking to follow a similar path, the key takeaway from Blue Banana’s experience is that measurement is the foundation. You cannot reduce what you do not measure, and you cannot communicate your sustainability efforts credibly without verified data.
If you want to know more about Blue Banana you can visit their website or its store in Madrid. For fashion brands interested in measuring their environmental impact, request a demo to see how Dcycle can help trace your value chain and build a credible sustainability strategy.
