This summer, Amazon opened its first-ever Products for Tomorrow program, seeking innovative products that were created with sustainability in mind. To qualify, products must be innovative in design, materiality, or chemistry, making them highly effective and desirable, and they must be from a small business in the U.S. Selected businesses will receive access to the Amazon Launchpad program, a $20,000 grant, guidance and assistance with sustainability certifications, and product placement opportunities for their winning products in multiple Amazon storefronts this fall.
Amazon is committed to creating a more sustainable shopping experience for customers. Currently, we offer more than 300,000 products with sustainability certifications in our Climate Pledge Friendly program in the U.S., and we recently unveiled Amazon Aware, our first-ever private brand that was consciously created, with each product having a sustainability certification. In a recent study conducted by Amazon, 30% of customers surveyed were buying what they considered to be more-sustainable products. In 2020, Amazon’s Climate Pledge Friendly program launched to help customers discover more-sustainable products by using third-party sustainability certifications along with our own certification, Compact by Design. The Climate Pledge Friendly selection on Amazon in the U.S. has more than doubled since June 2021, and the number of Climate Pledge Friendly items purchased by customers more than quadrupled this June compared to the same period last year.
“We know customers want more-sustainable products, and we’ve set out to deliver this through large programs like Climate Pledge Friendly and Amazon Aware,” said Cyrus Wadia, director of Product Sustainability at Amazon. “As we grow these programs, we are constantly looking for ways to support our smaller selling partners and brands. Products for Tomorrow allows us to reward innovative products with sustainability attributes from smaller brands, and provide them additional support to connect into our larger retail shopping programs.”
Selected recipients will be accepted into the Amazon Launchpad program. Founded in 2015, the program supports new brands, entrepreneurs, and startups in overcoming many of the challenges associated with launching new products. The program provides marketing tools and a suite of services and benefits to help businesses increase the visibility of their products, so they can focus on new innovations and expansion.
“The Amazon Launchpad program is solely focused on helping innovative brands and products succeed—innovation is thriving and essential in the sustainability space,” said Nick Love, head of the Amazon Launchpad program at Amazon. “We’re looking forward to combining the expertise of the Product Sustainability team at Amazon with that of the Amazon Launchpad team to help these products reach customers.”
Small businesses selected for the Products for Tomorrow program will receive an assessment and funding for carbon neutral certification for one year. The businesses will also receive guidance in obtaining any additional certifications that they qualify for in the Climate Pledge Friendly program. Learn more about the complete requirements for entry.
Applications are free and open from July 18 through August 18. Finalists and winners will be selected by Amazon and a globally recognized design firm, based on the product’s performance and value, innovation and uniqueness, desirability, and sustainability attributes. Winners will be notified by the end of September and publicly announced in the fall.
