Menswear label M.J. Bale named Australia’s first carbon-neutral fashion brand

Dean Blake

November 5, 2021

Matt Jensen is the founder and CEO of M.J. Bale. Source: supplied.

Menswear brand M.J. Bale has been named Australia’s first fully carbon-neutral fashion brand following a two-year life-cycle analysis of its manufacturing cycle, which has led to the complete offsetting of its business’ emissions with green projects.

The business, which operates 67 stores across the country, is now an accredited Climate Active organisation under the Australian Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources, and is now looking at ways to turn its carbon-neutral stance into a carbon-positive one.

“We plan to be carbon positive by next year, and are open to sharing our learnings from the sustainability journey with other like-minded industry partners,” said M.J. Bale founder and chief executive Matt Jensen.

“We are taking significant steps to cut emissions from the production of our woollen products, and have been pioneering the world’s first carbon neutrals wool farm trials in Tasmania to reduce livestock methane emissions to undetectable levels.

“We urge all Australian fashion retailers to join our lead in gaining a minimum of net zero certification. As an industry, we need to collectively work together to limit climate change.”

According to Jensen, the business is aiming to have all of its stores powered by renewable energy by the end of 2022 — currently, that figure sits at approximately half.

In order to meet this goal, M.J. Bale invested in programs, such as the Yarra Yarra Biodiversity Corridor in South Australia — a reforestation and habitat restoration project which aims to deliver environmental, economic, social and heritage benefits — as well as unnamed offshore wind projects.

This article was first published by Inside Retail.