What can I do to reduce my Carbon emissions…
Firstly, its good to know, what are carbon emissions? And, what is a carbon footprint? I didn’t understand it fully until reading more and getting on board with CarbonClick.
We still, as a store and personally, have a long way to go, but through making small informed decisions, hopefully we can make a difference.
Now at ‘the good tonic’ we offer a simple way for you to help by adding the CarbonClick green button at checkout. When you click it, a small contribution is added to your basket which purchases carbon offsets. These offsets reduce the environmental impact of the carbon emissions related to the purchase. CarbonClick’s offsets fund forest restoration, tree planting, and renewable energy projects around the world. We’re proud to be part of the fight against climate change, and invite you to be part of the team.
This takes us back to the initial questions - What are carbon emissions? And carbon footprints?
Carbon emissions is a generalised term to describe greenhouse gases being released into the atmosphere, which are often carbon based such as carbon dioxide and methane. These gases have global warming potential, meaning they trap the sun’s heat in the atmosphere, contributing to global warming and climate change. Carbon emissions come from activities such as the burning of fossil fuels (carbon dioxide) and the digestion systems of livestock (methane).
Understanding your carbon footprint is a great place to start — it's made up of everyday choices like how you get around, what you eat, and how much energy you use. The fewer emissions, the smaller your footprint.
You can cut down your footprint by taking actions like swapping the car for a bus or bike one day a week, switching your lightbulbs to LEDs, or shopping carefully, to avoid waste. It all makes a difference.
Great! So now tell me what is a carbon credit?
These are bought and sold when dealing with voluntary carbon offsets. For every tonne of CO2 that a verified project manages to absorb, avoid or otherwise reduce, a carbon credit can be issued. Carbon credits are certified by international standards and held in registries like the Gold Standard registry.
When we signed up with CarbonClick, we pledged to reduce our Carbon footprint by creating an action plan:
- Manage all our sustainable activity in one place, and to measure and track the positive impact ‘the good tonic’ as a business is having on the environment.
- Share the good we are doing for the planet through online promotion, adding this blog to our site and the green CarbonClick button at checkout. We are sharing our journey with you, our customers, and sharing our journey to sustainability with you.
- Brining our team on the journey, through sharing and educating, as we learn and grow, we will share our adventures with you, and that of our team’s personal carbon footprints
Voluntary carbon offsetting is a way to compensate for unavoidable carbon emissions. To do this, we support projects that positively impact the environment and reduce or avoid carbon emissions that would have otherwise contributed to climate change.
We signed up with another fantastic New Zealand Company – Ecotricity, who provide Ethical electricity - Good for the planet. Good for you.
Their mission is to provide Kiwis and Kiwi businesses with 100% pure renewable power and affordable price plans. Ecotricity is New Zealand’s only provider of 100% Renewable and carbonzero Certified electricity. They source their renewable carbonzero Certified electricity from the Monowai, Roaring Meg, Teviot hydro dams, the Flat Hill Wind Farm and Solar options.
You can show your support by switching too
So you may be wondering, Where does my money go? How do I know it has an impact?
CarbonClick has a unique track and trace feature, CarbonClick pre-purchases carbon credits. Their transparent reimbursement model means that you can immediately see the retirement certificates from the projects you are supporting and know your contribution is having a direct impact.
A key feature of a carbon offsetting project is additionality, which means the project could not go ahead without the finance of carbon credits.
There are so many good resources available to educate and inspire us to take climate action. I have taken some of the above from the below resources, grab a cup of coffee, jump in, and have a look around, but remember, its sometimes the little changes we can all make in our daily routines that can have the big snowball effects on our planet, and help to make it a greener safer place for our Whānau.
Here are some good places to start:
Check out Gen Less’ site to find out how you personally can embrace a lifestyle that uses less energy.
For individual action, check out WWF’s guide here.
CarbonClick, The planet needs individuals to take climate action. We make it easy. Level up your personal climate journey with a simple click and join a global movement.
Ecotricity, NZ’s cleanest and greenest electricity power company.
