Fashion & Textiles
Northern Playground: Beyond the garment — putting roots in Nordic climate action
How the clothing brand built on "buy less, play more" became one of the first in the textile industry to back high-integrity Nordic forest carbon — and why they did it without making it about the marketing.
Industry
Fashion & Textiles
Based in
Norway
Approach
Reduce first. Repair more. Support the builders.
A clothing company on a mission to make you buy less
Built differently from the start
Northern Playground was founded on a radical idea: that a clothing company should make you buy less, not more. Their entire business model is built around timeless design, no seasonal collections, repair services, and garments made to last decades. Their mantra — "Buy less. Play more." — isn't a tagline. It's a business strategy.
But even the most responsibly made product still has a footprint. Raw materials, production, transport — these are realities of making physical goods that no brand can fully escape. Northern Playground has never tried to hide that. In fact, they openly state that there is no such thing as sustainable clothing production — only less damaging ways of doing it.
In an industry built on obscuring this truth, that kind of honesty stands out. Northern Playground even tells their own customers not to buy new clothes unless they truly need to. That transparency — publishing their CO₂ emissions openly, challenging the industry publicly — is the foundation everything else is built on. As Jo Egil Tobiassen, founder and CEO, puts it:
"We realised that by communicating only the way we were producing our garments, we were ignoring the volume aspect — which is, in a sense, the real problem. Once that thought was there we thought: either we solve that, or we close down."
Jo Egil Tobiassen
Founder & CEO, Northern Playground
Walking the talk
Climate leadership that isn't about the marketing
What sets Northern Playground apart is that they don't buy carbon credits to look green. They do it because they believe in building a better ecosystem of solutions. This is what separates genuine climate leadership from marketing.
For Jo Egil, the decision to partner with Noora came naturally from their broader commitment to using business as a force for good — and from knowing first-hand what it means to be a young company trying to make a difference:
"We know all too well what it is like to be a young start-up aiming to make a difference, yet trying to survive. We have been there, and if we can help lift the importance of companies such as Noora by investing in some of your carbon credits, that makes perfect sense to us."
Jo Egil Tobiassen, Founder & CEO, Northern Playground
That pioneering mindset is exactly what makes high-integrity climate action possible. As with any early-phase technology company, Noora depends on early supporters to get off the ground. Northern Playground's commitment sends a clear signal: companies on a genuine sustainability mission can and should support each other in building the climate infrastructure we all need.
The partnership even goes both ways. When Noora needed company merchandise for the team, Northern Playground was the obvious choice — the best alternative for durable, responsibly made products. Sometimes the right partnerships just make sense in every direction.
Most companies in the textile industry are still focused on "sustainable materials" and incremental improvements. Northern Playground is one of the first from the textile sector to back Noora's mission to scale climate-smart forestry across the Nordics — challenging the industry's fundamentals while supporting the next generation of climate solutions.
“For us at Noora, this is more than a transaction. It's proof that the most climate-conscious brands also see the value in lifting the ecosystem around them. We're proud to be building this alongside a company that walks the talk."
Ingeborg Gjærum, CEO, Noora
Reduce first. Repair more. Then support the builders.
The approach
Northern Playground's primary climate strategy is clear: reduce consumption at the source. The company is investing heavily in building one of the most ambitious repair services in the textile industry, with a goal to one day repair more garments than they sell new. That's where the bulk of their sustainability budget goes — and rightly so.
Repair over replace
Actively cutting operational emissions: local suppliers, rail over air, lower-footprint itineraries built into the core product.
Real forest impact
Noora's Improved Forest Management projects let Nordic trees grow longer, maximising CO₂ sequestration and biomass growth from day one.
For Noora, Northern Playground's early commitment does more than validate the market. It signals that the most integrity-driven brands in any industry are ready to support the climate infrastructure being built around them.
Their investment in Noora's carbon credits is deliberately modest in volume. It's not about offsetting a large footprint. It's about supporting another early-stage Norwegian company that is building the climate infrastructure we all need for tomorrow.
"Reduce first. Repair more. And then support the builders creating new solutions. That's exactly what Northern Playground is doing."
Nina Heir, CCO, Noora
For Northern Playground, backing Noora is an investment in credible climate technology — a way to do their part in making sure high-integrity solutions get off the ground. It's a sequence that matters: reduce, repair, then lift the ecosystem around you.
"Repair is by far the most important and efficient action, looking at the footprint left behind. Our goal is to give every product five lives: the first buy, two rounds of repair, a fourth life through redesign or secondhand, and a fifth through recycling."
Jo Egil Tobiassen, Founder & CEO, Northern Playground
Third-party verified
Credits are developed under the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) by Verra, with independent verification before any credits are issued.
Start where you are. Be honest about what the real problem is.
A message to the industry
“Start where you are, and be honest about what the actual problem is. For us, that meant admitting that making better products wasn't enough if we kept selling more of them. Don't underestimate repair — it costs less than you think, and says more about your values than any marketing campaign ever will. The real question isn't whether your budget is big enough. It's whether you're willing to put it where it actually matters."
Jo Egil's advice to other brands feeling their budget is too limited to make a difference is direct:
Jo Egil Tobiassen
CEO, Up Norway
Northern Playground's decision demonstrates that climate leadership in the textile industry isn't always about the size of your investment — it's about the honesty behind it. Their business model already challenges overconsumption at its core. Their budget goes where it should: towards repairing more than they sell. And on top of that, they're choosing to support fellow Norwegian builders creating the climate infrastructure we all need for tomorrow.
About Northern Playground
Buy less. Play more.
Northern Playground is a Norwegian clothing brand based in Oslo, founded in 2014. Built around the belief that a clothing company should actively reduce consumption rather than fuel it, they design timeless, durable garments with no seasonal collections, invest in repair services, and publish their CO₂ emissions openly.
Their goal: one day repair more garments than they sell new. Their business is owned by founders, employees, and customers — making credibility and transparency not just values, but structural requirements.