Carbon Insetting: Supporting our Cotton Communities

DAME is partnering with Pilio, a brand that develops and implements solutions designed to benefit people and the planet.

DAME is the inaugural brand to support Pilio’s insetting solution, investing in the sustainability and resilience of cotton supply chains and the people who work within them. 

Why cotton? 

Cotton is the world’s most used natural fiber, and it’s also a key component of many of our period care products - from organic cotton tampons to the reusable period pads and period pants. 

Millions of people around the world are responsible for growing the cotton Pilio use in their clothing and period care, and these farmers live in regions and conditions that make them especially vulnerable to climate change. 

In Pakistan, the world’s fifth largest producer of cotton, farming communities often lack access to clean and affordable energy (UN Sustainable Development Goal 7). In climates as warm as Pakistan’s, the energy needed to run a fan or refrigerator can make all the difference for someone’s health and comfort.

Brands that use cotton rely on these farmers for their material but often lack visibility over their supply chains. As such, Pilio identified the opportunity to develop their cotton insetting solution, directly connecting our brand with cotton growing communities in Pakistan to support climate and livelihood resilience. 

What is insetting?

Insetting is a relatively novel concept. At Pilio, they had a vision for a cotton insetting solution for brands that takes a holistic approach to building resilience in their cotton supply chains. 

They have developed their solution to address climate, nature and social equity, working closely with farming communities to ensure the interventions they are introducing are ones the community actually wants. 

When Pilio first spoke with us at DAME, it was clear that we are aligned on the desire to go beyond carbon offsets, in which companies invest in carbon reduction outside of their operations. 

We were looking for a partner on climate action that would help us compensate for unavoidable emissions while also supporting sustainable development needs in the communities in our supply chains. 

We’ve been excited to partner with Pilio; DAME is a pioneer collaborator in designing this solution that could benefit many brands who want to source cotton ethically and sustainably. 

About DAME’s solution 

Pilio worked with us at DAME to create a solution tailored to the needs of the brand and Mauza Piyaray, a community of 800 people in the cotton farming Punjab region of Pakistan. The farmers in this community are Better Cotton certified, meaning they’ve already been trained in sustainable farming

We wanted to support interventions which were aligned with our brand values. They also wanted to make sure this solution compensated for their annual carbon footprint of 250 tonnes of greenhouse gas (for context, that’s equivalent to nearly 150 international flights). 

In this first year of the partnership, our investment supported: 

• 1 Clean Energy Shop: We paid for the installation of solar panels at a shop in the community that sells food and supplies. This investment enables the shop to run its lights, fans, and refrigerators on clean energy and to spread awareness of its benefits to the rest of the community. 

• 80 clean cookstoves provided to women: In these communities women regularly do the family cooking on conventional cookstoves fueled by cotton stalks and cow dung harmful to human health. Providing clean cookstoves and training on how to use them gives women more autonomy over their health, and the fuel pellets are sold at the clean energy shops. The feedback from the women in the village is that the cookstoves are easy to use and the dishes made are
  

• 180 fruit trees planted: These native trees planted by DAME in the community orchard absorb carbon, provide natural cooling and shade, and are a source of healthy and fresh food. 

Pilio is inviting brands with sustainability commitments to join DAME in their ongoing collaboration to design solutions in the cotton supply chain. In the meantime, you can rest assured that your DAME purchase is better for you as well as the people who grew the cotton it contains. 

Learn more about Pilio’s solution and how they are working to create sustainable cotton supply chains.