How we're reducing our carbon footprint at the shop.
When I set up Earthian Zero Waste Shop my focus was to help our community to reduce waste and plastic pollution. Our first year has been really positive regarding waste reduction, both as a business and out in our community. I look forward to developing this further in the future! However, waste is only one part of a much bigger picture of climate change that we should be tackling.
To help keep our impact as low as possible, we are already reusing, recycling and upcycling as much as we can at the shop. We also have our energy supplied by a 100% renewable sources. I wanted to go a step further in reducing our carbon footprint, not just for me, or for the shop but for our growing staff team too. This is why I have signed us up to become a Climate Positive Workforce, with Ecologi.
What is a Climate Positive Workforce?
We're joining some other fantastic and sustainable companies, such as Lucy and Yak, and Onya Life, who are growing trees to offset the carbon footprint of all their staff and helping to fund climate positive projects around the world.
To be a Climate Positive Workforce, we need to offset more than the carbon we produce, both at work and at home. Earthian Zero Waste Shop is funding global reforestation and supporting projects through Ecologi, enough to equal 14 tonnes of Co2 per employee per year, which is higher than the average carbon footprint per person, putting our team into a positive carbon position.
Why use Ecologi?
Ecologi works with The Eden Reforestation Project to plant trees. They focus their efforts in countries where deforestation has taken a toll on the land and the people, so that the reforestation will have a meaningful impact. They also hire local people to plant and maintain the trees, as not only does this provide income for the community but they have a vested interest in creating a healthy forest. They also have a top tier seedling survival rate of 80%, meaning the trees that are planted for us have a much better chance of surviving and capturing carbon from the atmosphere in the years to come.
As well as planting trees, Ecologi funds climate projects around the world, such as peatland restoration and creating energy from wind, hydro and waste landfill gases. All the projects they support are certified as Gold Standard, meaning that their impact is maximized for climate and sustainable development goals.
The reason I was so keen to partner with Ecologi for our tree planting and carbon offsetting was the transparency they offer us. We can see receipts for the trees planted, know their locations and check in with their growth progress.
We also have a page with Ecologi, which tracks our tree planting and updates our carbon offsetting. You can clearly see the projects that our money has gone towards and how many trees have been planted in the Earthian Company Forest. Click on the image below to find our sustainability profile:
I'm especially excited to announce our commitment to being a Climate Positive Workforce today as it is the 1 year anniversary since we opened our shop. I wanted us to celebrate this with something positive for our planet and this seemed like the ideal way to honour everything we've achieved and will achieve in the future.
Take care everyone, and hope to see you at the shop soon.
Katie
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