Environment
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What’s the difference between net zero and carbon neutral?
Whether it’s on the side of packaging or in an advert, you’ve probably seen businesses use the term carbon neutral to big up their sustainability credentials. But what does it mean, is it greenwashing, and how does it differ from net zero?
What is carbon neutral?
There are two things to note about carbon neutral. First, it only covers carbon dioxide (other greenhouse gases are available) emissions. And second, a company doesn’t have to reduce the carbon emissions it creates to achieve it.
A company can claim to be carbon neutral if it offsets its carbon dioxide emissions by investing in projects that reduce the same level of emissions elsewhere – for example, tree planting or renewable energy projects in the global south. In other words, if the company’s annual carbon footprint is ten tonnes, they can buy verified carbon offsets to the tune of 10 tonnes and hey presto, they’re carbon neutral.
While there’s nothing wrong in principle with investing in tree planting, renewable energy projects, and other offset schemes, carbon neutral falls way short of net zero.
What does net zero mean?
If carbon neutral is passive, net zero is focused on action.
To claim net zero, a company must reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 90% compared to a baseline year. Once they’ve hit 90%, they can offset the rest.
Whether it’s reducing waste, switching to renewable energy, or cleaning up their supply chain, net zero drives companies to take positive action in reducing their impact on the planet. It’s about innovation and progress; not about carrying on as we are and paying money to cover up the mess.
Net zero also takes into account all greenhouse gas emissions. Methane, for example, is 25 times more powerful when it comes to global warming than carbon dioxide. A carbon footprint aligned to net zero factors this in.
Net zero is great for business
It’s not just the climate that benefits from net zero, business does too.
Because of the focus on doing things better – such as embracing modern technology, being less wasteful, and engaging your supply chain – there are tonnes of business benefits. Lower costs, great sustainability storytelling opportunities, a happier workforce, and a progressive outlook that will inspire customers, investors, and other stakeholders.
As the name suggests, our Net Zero 360 workshops dive deeper into net zero for business and how you accelerate your journey. You get a full day learning climate science for business, how to measure your carbon footprint, and how to put in a place an achievable net zero plan.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner content_placement=”middle”][vc_column_inner offset=”vc_col-lg-offset-1 vc_col-lg-10″][vc_column_text css=””]Environmental Policy
We believe that all our activities and operations have an impact upon the environment and that environmental issues are of critical importance.
This policy commits Aldershaw to continuous environmental improvement, to be environmentally friendly, to demonstrate sound environmental performance, to prevent pollution and take actions that will lead to environmental sustainability.
It applies to all our activities and their affect on our employees, contractors, suppliers, customers, the general public, and the world environment.
We will achieve our policy objectives by continually striving to:
1. Measure and monitor the impact of all our activities upon the environment.
2. Analyse and reduce our impact upon the environment and in particular our:
Efficient use of:
- Energy
- Water
- Land
- Labour
- Natural resources
And to minimise the:
- Production of waste
- Pollutants to atmosphere
- Pollutants to land or water
- Production of noise odour or dust
- Visual effect of our activities
- Effect on ecosystems
3. Plan our activities, services and products to minimise any adverse impact upon the environment.
4. Comply and wherever possible exceed the requirements of legislative environmental standards.
5. Involve and Train our employees to be environmentally aware, environmentally responsible and continuously work towards environmental sustainability.
6. Encourage all persons and Organisations with which we have contact to become environmentally aware and environmentally responsible.
7. Communicate and whenever appropriate share our environmental experiences and resulting techniques and Solutions.
How do we do this?
Firstly we try to be as efficient as we can in the use of all our raw materials, energy, water, and our own labour.
We generate our own electricity for all motive power.and recover the heat from it’s generation for use in our dryers, just as we do the wasted heat from our kilns during the firing process.
We recycle all tile waste whether fired or unfired straight back into the body of the tiles which is also beneficial to the quality of the finished tile and the efficiency of production.
We harvest the rainwater off the factory roof for use as process water in the mixing of clay for hand moulding.
Our packaging is top quality and we financially encourage our customers to return it for reuse, where practical we reuse paper for non-confidential use and shred the remaining for use as packaging.
We own and manage sufficient woodland to sequester more than six times more carbon than we cause to be produced in our consumption of fuels. This woodland is managed in a sustainable way, the coppiced woodland is used to make fencing and other woodland products which fix the carbon for a prolonged period of time. Brushwood is stacked in brash piles to encourage fauna by creating additional natural habitats.
Our new office and showroom is also planned to harvest rainwater for wc flushing. The wastewater will be treated on site to ensure that it is pure enough to be put straight into the local watercourse. Hot water is to be provided by solar panels.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row]
