The Business Supplies Group (BSG) carbon offsetting initiative
In a bid to help combat climate change and sustain our environment for future generations, we have joined forces with an organisation called Carbon Footprint. With the help of Carbon Footprint we’re going to be offsetting our company’s carbon emissions – by planting trees within our local community.
Carbon offsetting is a way to compensate for our company’s fuel emissions from our own fleet of diesel vehicles, as well as our couriers, by funding an equivalent carbon dioxide saving elsewhere. Carbon Footrprint offer a huge range of carbon offset projects across Africa, South America, Asia and Europe, including a UK tree planting initiative – which is what we’ve chosen to support.
All the projects are to international standards, including the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS), Gold Standard Voluntary Emission Reductions (VER) and Certified Emission Reductions (CER). And all meet the Quality Assurance Standard for Carbon Offsetting and BSI's PAS 2060 specification on carbon neutrality.
What’s involved?
Our first step was to calculate our fuel emissions for the last 12 months, Carbon Footprint then calculates how many trees we need to plant to offset our emissions.
Planting trees is a great way to help sequester carbon emissions. Through photosynthesis trees absorb carbon dioxide to produce oxygen and wood. By ensuring that the trees planted are native broad leaf species we are also helping to preserve the UK's environment and biodiversity and enhance the UK’s natural landscape.
What’s more, for every tree that we pledge, a tonne of carbon will also be saved in the Brazilian Amazon via Carbon Footprint’s VCS avoided deforestation programme. So we’ll be offsetting carbon, planting and protecting forests and biodiversity across two continents!
Planting takes place in schools locations and all the trees are high quality cell grown ‘whips’ (year old saplings). All the trees being planted on our behalf will be native broad leaf varieties including: Hawthorn, Sessile Oak, Hazel, Downy Birch, Guelder Rose, Field Maple, Rowan, English Oak, Blackthorn, and Wild Cherry.
Nominate a school today!
We’re looking for local schools that want trees to plant within their grounds. The sites will need to be ‘permanent’ to give the trees the best chance of reaching their full potential. The trees are supplied in multiples of 10 per species and the planting season traditionally runs from November through to April. Please get in touch with us if you’d like to nominate a local school – we’d love to hear from you.
Going forward
Carbon Footprint will be giving us tips and advice to help us reduce our company carbon emissions, and we intend to offset our emissions on an annual basis going forward.
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