The climate crisis will not be solved overnight, and there is no simple solution for the problems that our world is facing, but as a committed B Corp, we work daily to do our part as a business to combat our own pollution. One way that we are doing this is by planting trees to offset our carbon production. Trees are an effective tool in combatting carbon pollution, and by partnering with Ecologi, we have a guarantee that we are giving back to our planet in return for the resources we use.
Why Do We Do This?
It’s in our nature. As a company, and as individuals, our team is passionate about leaving the world better than we found it, and we are continuously looking into ways that we can further reduce our environmental impact. From the office to our personal lives, we’re all making changes to help us live better and work better. We know that it’s a long road ahead, but it is a journey that we are happy to take together.
Calculating What We Need to Offset
It’s not easy to calculate carbon emissions. We are working to calculate our own output with Yi, our NetZero Coordinator. It’s part one of the three sustainability efforts that she is driving including:
- Striving to improve the accuracy of our carbon-emission measurements to ensure that we have high-quality data.
- Conducting sustainability sessions to raise awareness among our team members.
- Creating a roadmap with three focal points: NetZero, waste management, and circular economy.
If you are not lucky enough to have a Yi of your own, then there are still ways that you can work out your carbon footprint through the online calculators available, your own company surveys, and even educated guesswork. If in doubt, over-estimate!
Why Did We Choose Ecologi?
We know that carbon offsetting isn’t a complete solution, but it’s one tool in our work towards Net Zero, and one that Ecologi helps us to achieve. Like us, Ecologi is a B Corp, and a like-minded team coming up with inventive and responsible ways to make the world a better place for future generations.
Each month we commit a percentage of our profit towards planting trees and supporting projects with Ecologi. We also ask our clients to match our commitment on larger projects to double the impact that we can have.
One of the reasons we chose Ecologi as our partner is that they’re fully transparent about where the trees are being planted. For trees planted in the UK, you can even get an image of your tree and its location on what3words! Ecologi will only partner with organisations that work to secure the longevity and safety of their trees. They do this by working with local governments, paying fair wages to all workers and hiring local villagers to help alleviate extreme poverty and establish economic incentives to ensure the well-being of the restoration projects.
Their Public Impact and Operations Ledger lists all receipts and certificates and they publicly publish quarterly financial reports. Finally, decisions on which projects to fund are guided by a dedicated climate committee made up of experts from a range of climate organisations and projects.
More Than Tree Planting
Working with Ecologi allows us to see the positive impact we have had every month and means we are part of larger projects that look after the planet and communities. Some of the projects we have helped to fund so far include:
- Providing clean energy through hydropower in Kanungu, Uganda
- Producing electricity from wind power in Northeast Thailand
- Preserving Amazonian rainforest in Brazil
- Producing electricity from solar energy in Vietnam
- First Ever Wind Power Project in Honduras
- Using waste biomass to produce electricity in Chile
- Producing energy from waste rice husks in India
- Converting landfill gas to energy in Northern Turkey