Do's and don'ts in data communication

Why do you need this guide?

Greenwashing accusations are the order of the day and at BCome we believe that the best way to practice honest communication is through transparency. Below we have compiled a series of recommendations to ensure that your sustainability data is communicated in a clear, accurate and understandable way.

Communicate your environmental impact metrics
Communicate your environmental savings
Communicate your equivalences
Communicate the Eco-Score of your products
Communicate the data obtained through the Fashion Impact Calculator

GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS WHEN COMMUNICATING YOUR DATA

Any data provided by BCome should be published along with “powered by BCome” to ensure verification by a third party.
The mention to BCome should be linked to the radical transparency section on our website.

COMMUNICATE YOUR ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS METRICS

What are your environmental impact metrics and what do they mean?

Water scarcity: Potential of water deprivation, to either humans or ecosystems, due to the water consumption in the product value chain. The use and contamination of this natural resource along the product value chain make it difficult to access activities that are more primordial and/or basic necessities. Its measuring unit is m³ water eq, and its characterization model is AWARE (Available WAter REmaining).
Global warming: Heat absorbed by any greenhouse gas released in the atmosphere from the product value chain. The increase of greenhouse gasses (GHG) in the atmosphere directly affects the climate as well as terrestrial and marine ecosystems. Its measuring unit is kg CO₂ eq, and its characterization model is IPCC 2013 GWP 100a method.
Eutrophication: Accumulation of phosphates and nitrates released by the use of pesticides, fertilizers, detergents, and other chemicals in an ecosystem. The increase in their concentration in water bodies leads to algae proliferation, altering the ecosystem and reducing its biodiversity. Its measuring unit is g phosphates eq, and its characterization model is CML-IA baseline.
Abiotic depletion: Depletion of nonliving (abiotic) resources including oil, natural gas, and coal used as energy carriers. It corresponds to the use of natural resources that are not renewable. The calculation is based on the ultimate reserves of fossil fuels and annual de-accumulation, defined as the annual production minus the annual regeneration (supposed to be null). Its measuring unit is MJ, and its characterization model is CML-IA baseline.

How should these metrics be communicated?

COMMUNICATE YOUR ENVIRONMENTAL SAVINGS

What are your environmental savings and what do they mean?

Your environmental savings data is calculated by comparing your results to a conventional scenario based on a product of the same type, same weight, and same functionality in which the following parameters have been modified: Composition, wet processes, origin of the raw materials, transport used and packaging.

How should these environmental savings be communicated?

COMMUNICATE YOUR EQUIVALENCES

What are your equivalencies and what do they mean?

In order to make it easier to read your impact data, we provide you with two types of equivalences:

	Unitary equivalence impact	Production equivalence impact
Water scarcity	Nr 1,5L water bottles	Nr of olympic pools
Global warming	Days of lighting with a LED bulb	Months of electricity consumption of a house
Eutrophication	Nr of washing and drying cycles	Nr of bottles (3L) of laundry detergent
Abiotic depletion	km traveled by car	Nr of flights (New-York / Madrid)

How should these equivalencies be communicated?

COMMUNICATE THE ECO-SCORE OF YOUR PRODUCTS

What is your Eco-Score and what does it mean?

This tool is used for evaluating the sustainable performance of a product in four impact areas:

Planet: This area evaluates good practices for environmental efficiency and the responsible use of resources.
People: All practices created to ensure that working, social and animal conditions are safe and ethical are included.
Transparency: It covers all the created practices and the commitment to the monitoring, definition and transparency of the value chain.
Circularity: This area analyzes all the practices that promote actions aimed at circular production and consumption where resource loops are closed and valuable materials are recovered.