Etsy Solar: Here comes the sun

In 2014, when we began to understand and quantify the carbon impact of shipments made of items purchased in our marketplace, we realized that we needed to take action to both reduce and counteract it. The nature of this impact is distributed, as opposed to centralized -- shipments go directly from sellers to buyers. This gave us the bright idea that the best strategy for addressing our marketplace’s footprint could also be distributed as opposed to centralized. That’s why we’re engaging our community in a new pilot program called Etsy Solar.

With Etsy Solar, our sellers and employees can install solar panels on their homes or studios at a discount. This means that in some US states without robust incentives, solar will be financially accessible for the first time. Through this program, we expect participating sellers and employees to save money on their monthly electricity bills. We’re excited about the vast network of renewable energy generation that the Etsy community can build as a result of Etsy Solar.

And because of these distributed solar projects, we’ll be able to balance the carbon emissions generated by marketplace shipping. We’re turning the carbon emissions reduction rights from these projects into verified carbon offsets to be applied to our marketplace shipping emissions. By leveraging our community to find shared solutions, we’re able to address our Scope 3 carbon emissions -- the emissions indirectly generated by our business but not from energy we either own or purchase. Most companies don’t even count Scope 3 emissions.

Through Etsy Solar, we’re sending a strong signal about our attitude towards carbon. The discount sellers receive on their solar panel installations will be tied to the social cost of carbon, which is an estimate of the long-term economic damage associated with the release of one metric ton of CO2e into the atmosphere. This rigorous methodology for pricing carbon was developed by the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Through Etsy Solar, we’re not just investing in renewable energy; we’re investing in our sellers and employees and helping our community transition to a lower-carbon lifestyle. While the program is a creative solution to our marketplace emissions, we’re aware that it doesn’t solve the problem of rapidly increasing shipping emissions caused by e-commerce. We see a need for collaborative systemic change, and we're committed to being a part of it.