#Greenhushing is slowing down the sustainability transition we all crave. Now more than ever, we need the companies making progress on sustainability, to inspire their peers to make a start!
We provide a QR code ( ready for download on your company transparency page) that you can use for your packaging, brochures, invoices, e-mail signature, service vans and any other place that is relevant for you to inspire others!
The QR or web link takes internal and external stakeholders to your company transparency page, with more information on your sustainability achievements & ambitions.
Sustainability is not about perfection, it’s about reliability. Your stakeholders must be able to trust you! On the road to a sustainable future we are all students. But make no mistake, false claims are dangerous. It’s important to keep your image and messaging in line with your actual achievements. Claims about sustainable business are only credible if they are easily verifiable.
Sustainability has become a flattened concept for most people
The majority of Europeans have little confidence in what companies say about sustainability in their well-drafted CSR reports. Yet the vast majority find it important that companies do keep them informed about their achievements and the steps they are taking towards a more sustainable future.
A revolution in how we trust
Just like the invention of the printing press made us think differently about how we communicate and the steam engine made us think differently about work, blockchain will teach us how to think differently on how we trust.
SustainabilityChecker.app is convinced that, ‘trust' is one of the three most important challenges of our generation, next to climate change and making our economy more sustainable.
That is why SustainabilityChecker.app uses blockchain technology to transparently communicate information and data about the ambitions and achievements in the field of sustainability at companies to share with all stakeholders.
Is it sustainable to use blockchain ?
The power of blockchain technology as an accelerator for sustainability is fully endorsed by the European Union: “The EU recognises the potential of blockchain and supports the use of blockchain technology in fostering sustainable economic development, addressing climate change, and supporting the European Green Deal”
Blockchain should be sustainable & energy-efficient
That is why we use the Ethereum (ETH) Blockchain. This second biggest blockchain in the world has set an important example, when it decided to pull the plug on the energy hungry Proof-of-Work (Pow) consensus mechanism to switch to Proof-of-Stake (PoS). The switch cuts Ethereum power consumption by an estimated 99,95%, while making the network safer and more scalable.
We use “public transport” for transactions in the blockchain
While we can commit an individual hash to a blockchain, this is less sustainable and can yield high financial costs, as each submitted hash results in significant transaction cost.
Therefore a special data structure, which is called "Merkle Tree" is used. Since hashes can be treated as text input, the concatenation of two hashes can be hashed again to obtain a new hash. Two hashes obtained by this procedure can be concatenated and hashed again to combine four file-hashes and so on. Thus, an-arbitrary number of hashes can be combined into a single hash, which we call root hash. The root hash then represents all other hashes in a Merkle Tree.
Submitting this representative root hash of the Merkle Tree instead of all hashes individually, saves even more energy, time and money. Think of it as a form of ‘public transport’ to timestamping in the blockchain.
What is blockchain ?
A blockchain is a system for storing data in a chain of blocks, that cannot be changed. The data can be cryptocurrency transfers, but it can also contain title deeds, agreements, promises, personal messages, certificates or other relevant data.
What makes blockchain special, is that this is all possible without a central authority, making it impossible to falsify the recorded data by corrupting a central point.
Sustainabilitychecker.app uses blockchain technology to transparently communicate information and data about the sustainability achievements and ambitions (KPI’s) of companies with all it’s stakeholders.
Verifying a timestamp.
The verification of a timestamp, and therefore the integrity & authenticity of a certificate at the corresponding time, can be done via Sustainability Checker app, but also independent of SustainabilityChecker.app.
Don’t take our word for it. You can verify the timestamps yourself, with free online tools!
To verify a timestamp independently, all you need is a computer, some time to go through the verification process and the following two documents:
1 The certificate you want to verify
2 The corresponding timestamp certificate
Watch the video or follow the steps as described below and learn how to verify timestamps yourself using free online tools.
1. Determine the SHA-256 of the original certificate from the certifying party.
There are numerous programs and libraries to calculate the SHA-256 of a file, such as md5file.com , simply drag and drop or select your file, to retrieve the SHA-256 of your file.
2. Validate your Timestamp certificate.
You must verify that the hash (SHA-256) of your file is part of the timestamp certificate. To verify this, open the timestamp certificate and search for the hash. If the hash isn't there, either the file wasn't timestamped, manipulated or timestamp certificate is not the one for the original document.
3. Determine the private key
A Merkle Tree is an efficient data structure, which allows summarising many hashes into one root hash. The Merkle Tree is built from the bottom to the top and follows a fixed schema. The value of a node is determined by the aggregated hash of its children.
This step is performed from the bottom to the top for all levels of the Merkle Tree until the hash of its root node is verified. This root hash is treated as a private key, which we embedded in the blockchain through a transaction. For a more detailed explanation of the Merkle Tree, please have a look at Wikipedia.
4. Timestamp Lookup
After the successful verification of the root hash, you need to verify that this root has was anchored in the blockchain. To proceed, please copy the transaction hash, which is in your certificate and open this transaction with a blockchain explorer. We recommend using Etherscan https://etherscan.io/
After selecting the transaction, you need to expand the details to be able to see the root hash of your certificate in the "Input Data"-Field. If it is present, you've verified your timestamp!
How is a timestamp created ?
Short explanation
When we receive a certificate from a certifying party, sustainability checker.app automatically creates a unique digital fingerprint (called Hash). The hash is anchored to the Blockchain.
The time of this anchoring represents the timestamp of the certificate. With this timestamp we can prove the possession of the certificate at the time of the timestamp and that it hasn’t been tampered with since, either through Sustainability Checker.app or independent of SustainabilityChecker.app.
Detailed explanation
1. Hashing the file
We calculate a so-called hash for the certificate. The hash itself, more precisely a cryptographically secure hash, can be easily obtained from a file.
It is computationally infeasible (realistically "impossible") to reconstruct a file from its hash. Nor is it possible to create a file that matches a particular hash.
2. Combining hashes in a Merkle Tree
While we can commit an individual hash to a blockchain, this is less sustainable and can yield high financial costs as each submitted hash results in significant transaction costs.
Therefore a special data structure, which is called "Merkle Tree" is used. Since hashes can be treated as text input, the concatenation of two hashes can be hashed again to obtain a new hash. Two hashes obtained by this procedure can be concatenated and hashed again to combine four file-hashes and so on. Thus, anarbitrary number of hashes can be combined into a single hash, which we call root hash. The root hash then represents all other hashes in a Merkle Tree.
Submitting this representative root hash of the Merkle Tree instead of all hashes individually, saves a lot of energy, time and money. Think of it as a form of ‘public transport’ to timestamping in the blockchain.
3. Publishing the root hash
As a final step, we want to create a tamper-proof timestamp of this root hash. The perfect tool for this is the blockchain. Put simply, it's a tamper-proof, append-only ledger. You can write to the blockchain but never change or delete old data. Every entry is marked with a tamper-proof timestamp. Thus, submitting the root hash to the blockchain creates a tamper-proof timestamp for it. You can find more details in our guide on how to verify a timestamp.
The colored boxes.
So you have noticed the boxes with nr’s have you? They stand for the Sustainable Development Goals the certified impact is related to. If you click on them you will find more information.
Never heard of Sustainable Development Goals?
The Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs for short, were developed by the United Nations to liberate humanity from poverty and put the planet back on course towards sustainability.
Certificates timestamped by SustainabilityChecker.app, only come from verified certificate issuers. To date, the following issuers have been approved by our experts :
👉Your company is already on the app, but your certificate is not white listed (yet)?
Drop us a message here. Please include an example of the certificate that you would like to place on your company transparency page. We will place the certificate on our “to be verified list” and keep you informed on the progress. Please note that it can take up to 6 months before a decision is reached.
👉Your company is not on the app yet?
The easiest way, to become part of the Ecosystem for Transparent Communication, is to make impact with an Ambassador. Have a look at the Ambassador page & reach out to one of them today!
It is very well possible that a company has many more certified achievements. SustainabilityChecker.app only shows the Certified Impact, that a company or a certificate issuer requested to be timestamped in the blockchain. Certificates timestamped by SustainabilityChecker.app. only come from verified certificate issuers.
In short, registration of Certified Impact is always :
A) commissioned by the certificate issuer
To ensure the authenticity and integrity of the certificate issued.
B) on behalf of the certificate holder
To communicate transparently on certified achievements. And to make sure all stakeholders can easily check & verify the companies’ achievements and progress towards a more sustainable future.
Adding certified impact.
👉 Not on the app yet?
The easiest way, to become part of the Ecosystem for Transparent Communication, is to make impact with an Ambassador. Have a look at the Ambassador page & reach out to one of them today!
Great! This means one of our Ambassadors has asked us to timestamp your Certified Impact in the blockchain, to help you prove the integrity & authenticity of your certificate with stakeholders.
This also means you already have a “Transparency Page”. All you need now is a subscription to start logging extra Impact!
Unlimited Impact Blocks **
> Introduction text for your Impact Blocks
> Annual Blockchain Timestamps
> Independent Timestamp verification
> Downloadable Public Certificates
> QR code & social image
✅ A single source of truth for all your certified impact.
✅Provetheintegrity&authenticityofyourCertificates
✅ Share your Impact, with SDG context both -on and -offline.
* White listed certificates only. All certificates and the applied standards are always verified directly with the certificate issuer.
* Excludes Ambition Blocks & KPI tracking, for which a consultancy track with Sustainability Partner or one of our Ambassadors applies at all times.
Send us a YouTube link to your (new) video. Our team will review it carefully and post it on your ‘Transparency page’ for all stakeholders to see. Please note a ‘one time’ admin fee of 150 EURO will be charged, prior to posting your video.
Looking for an expert to help you tell your story?
There are many experts out there to help you build and film your story. Here is a company that we have grown to love and trust, form within the SustainabilityChecker.app Ecosystem, that we can highly recommend to bring your story.
Great! This means one of our Ambassadors has asked us to timestamp your Certified Impact in the blockchain, to help you prove the integrity & authenticity of your certificate with stakeholders.
This also means you already have a “Transparency Page”. All you need now is to contact an Ambassador, who is white listed for setting Ambitions & KPI’s. Please note Ambassador’s can only set Ambitions that are directly related to their expertise.
If you want to set ambitions across several SDG’s, please contact Sustainability Partner for a consultancy track to help you measure, improve and track your impact.
The easiest way, to become part of the Ecosystem for Transparent Communication, is to make impact with an Ambassador. Have a look at the Ambassador page & reach out to one of them today!
A timestamp assigns a unique time to the certificate. SustainabilityChecker.app creates timestamps for digital certificates to be able to prove:
1. The certificate existed at a certain time.
2. The certificate hasn't been tampered with.
What is a blockchain timestamp ?
At SustainabilityChecker.app we use a blockchain-based approach to preserve timestamps and ensure their integrity. All timestamps created by SustainabilityChecker.app are stored by thousands of computers distributed around the globe. This results in extremely secure timestamps, that are independent of a trusted third party.
