Offsetting Carbon Emissions when you are a small toy company is both complicated and simple, hard to arrange but easy to do. So how have we achieved it and what were the obstacles we faced?
The concept of offsetting carbon emissions was actually started way back in 1977 with the USA Clean Air Act. This allowed businesses to increase their emissions but only if they had a partner company who would reduce their emissions. Amended in 1990 to put limits on pollutants it also allowed companies to buy and sell offsets via other companies.
Since the early days the business of offsetting carbon emissions has grown and has got a lot more sophisticated which is great for Governments and big business but rather bewildering for small business such as ourselves.
When we first started looking at offsetting our carbon emissions we were swamped by information and opinions from all sides.
What we believe is that carbon offsetting is when you permanently remove greenhouse gases from the environment by creating, encouraging or saving natural habitats which absorb emissions.
Most habitats have the potential to do this, but the majority of research has been done on peatland and woodland so there is now strong evidence of its capacity to store carbon.
With this knowledge we decided to concentrate on working with a company who specialises in woodland and/or peatland. We also wanted to work with a small company who could answer all our questions and who could prove that our money was being spent on creating more woodlands. Some of the larger companies we contacted made us feel that our money would be spent mostly on admin than actually doing anything. And we wanted the work to be in the UK so again we could have proof that work was being done and could even visit if we saw fit
So we are proud to partner with Make it Wild based in Yorkshire.
They have been creating new wildflower meadows, restoring wetlands and planting trees since 2010 and are passionate about what they do.
They now care for 400 acres and have planted more than 60,000 trees in new woodlands, trees that absorb greenhouse gases and are funded by companies like Best Years who wish to offset their carbon emissions.
“Make It Wild are delighted to be able to partner with Best Years Ltd, to support their sustainability goals. Their contribution towards our nature restoration work will make a tangible difference to the biodiversity in the vicinity of our projects. It will also help more generally, to spread the important message of the increased need for wildlife conservation here in the UK.”
