The green scheme that benefits you and your family
Carboncreditz launch article in The Independent, 20 October 2008
Carboncreditz is a new green currency that rewards both consumers and businesses for caring about climate change.
We all have a carbon footprint and the damage that it’s doing to the environment is unsustainable. We can’t go on using the earth’s resources as we always have, because they’re running out and we’re running out of time to do something about it.
Carbon footprint – it’s a term that’s bandied about a lot these days, but what are you doing to reduce yours?
Most of the day-to-day things we do contribute to our carbon footprint; the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) we’re responsible for emitting into the atmosphere. Doing the washing, watching the telly, driving to the supermarket, buying groceries... the list is endless and it all adds up to a pretty hefty carbon footprint. The UK’s total carbon footprint is 657 million tonnes. There are approximately 22 million households in the UK, which equates to 30 tonnes per household.
You don’t need to be an international jetsetter to have a big carbon footprint. It’s surprising how quickly CO2 emissions from everyday activities add up to a big impact on the environment. And while it’s easy to recycle more and turn appliances off instead of leaving them on standby, it’s not always possible to stop doing everyday things such as travelling to work, going on holiday, heating your home and cooking meals. But there is a way you can do all the things you have to do, and enjoy doing, while still helping combat, climate change.
Believe it or not, there’s a new “loyalty scheme” that benefits the planet – Carboncreditz, a simple, practical and free way to do something positive about your carbon footprint. The scheme not only enables you to offset the CO2 you generate on a day-to-day basis, but it also lets you choose how you offset it.
In a similar way to other loyalty schemes, Carboncreditz are collected when you buy products and services. These are then “banked” securely in a password-protected account on the Carboncreditz website until you decide how you want to use them.
It differs from other loyalty schemes in a number of ways. Carboncreditz doesn’t belong to any one retailer or group of retailers, it’s entirely focused around the issue of climate change, and the value of the creditz earned through online shopping and promotions enables you to make carbon offsets or to purchase energy efficient products, quickly.
You collect Carboncreditz against the online purchases of goods and services with a host of the organisation’s online partners, details of which are on the website. A number of brand owners are also considering how they can use Carboncreditz for sales promotion. Siemens has taken the lead by offering 5,000 Carboncreditz against the purchase of a low-energy tumble dryer. Creditz can also be exchanged between account holders.
It’s easy for a little to add up to a lot. For example, if you purchase your car insurance through an online affiliate store, you can earn enough Carboncreditz to offset the CO2 emissions from your car, for a whole year.
Once you’ve accumulated some creditz, they can be redeemed against carbon offset projects, such as a wind farm in India or a scheme to provide African families with energy-efficient light bulbs. Alternatively they can be spent against a range of energy saving and environmentally friendly products available from the Carboncreditz online store, including wind-up torches, radios and energy efficient white goods. Each of these products is worth a certain number of creditz.
“Forty per cent of CO2 emissions in the UK can be attributed to individuals, but other than recycling, consumers have little knowledge of what they can do to reduce their carbon footprint or offset their energy consumption.”
You can also donate your creditz to schools and other community organisations, so they can support carbon offsetting and other environmentally friendly projects.
Carboncreditz is owned by Grass Roots Group PLC, which has 28 years experience of running loyalty schemes and reward programmes. The chairman and chief executive, David Evans, who this year was awarded an MBE for services to corporate social responsibility, says: “Forty per cent of CO2 emissions in the UK can be attributed to individuals, but other than recycling, consumers have little knowledge of what they can do to reduce their carbon footprint or offset their energy consumption.”
To measure your carbon footprint and see how to earn and spend your creditz, log on to www.carboncreditz.org Open your account today and help combat the problem of climate change.
How the website works
To open an account at www.carboncreditz.org, you simply fill in the information required to register and create your profile. You can also calculate your personal carbon footprint in tonnes of CO2 by entering in details of your lifestyle such as your expenses from car or air travel and utilities.
If you have already collected carboncredtiz from a promotion, you can claim them by entering the unique code on to the “enter codes” section. If you purchase an item online from our affiliate partners’ websites, you will be rewarded with a percentage of your total spend in creditz which will be added to your account. Once the creditz are registered to your account you can spend them on energy-efficient products from the online store, invest them in a range of projects across the world, or alternatively you can transfer them to another Carboncreditz account holder.
Any creditz that you use to offset reduces your carbon footprint total, helping you to become carbon neutral. When you offset your total car, flight and household emissions for a year, you will receive a sticker promoting the fact you have offset your emissions.
See The Independent this Tuesday and Wednesday for your free Carboncreditz to collect. You can then spend them or choose to offset them to a project.
How business can help
If you are an employer or employee you can get involved in contributing to reducing climate change and offsetting. The website www.corporateoffset.com has been set up to aid businesses in calculating their carbon footprint and empower their employees to become carbon neutral.
An account is set up, with logon details that can be distributed to employees. Corporateoffset will calculate any company’s carbon footprint, resulting in a total expressed in tonnes. Each employee then receives a proportion of the total footprint, also in tonnes. Employees then invest their tonnes in the carbon offset project they feel most engaged with from a selection available on the website. Once all tonnes have been offset, the business becomes carbon neutral.
Businesses can also incorporate engaging learning materials and programmes that connect to the corporate offset site. Employees are required to complete some education and potentially take a test to earn their tonnes of carbon. This will reiterate and aid ongoing “reduce, recycle and reuse” policies.
Companies who are currently involved, including Sentrum, have already offset 533 tonnes via the corporate offset.com programme. A spokesperson said: “Sentrum is the first data centre operator to offer fully bespoke solutions and so it relies heavily upon energy sources. We are strongly aware of the damaging effect the day-to-day running of businesses can have on the environment and therefore decided to lead by example and commit to neutralising our carbon footprint.“
“Corporateoffset.com provided us with a one stop shop to have the footprint measured, and the opportunity to offset it against a project that was complimentary to our business model and that we believed in. We would highly encourage more businesses in the UK to take responsibility for their contribution to climate change.”
For more information, visit www.corporateoffset.com