More Bang for Your Business’s Buck: Tree Planting or Carbon Offsets?
Climate change is one of the global community’s most pressing issues and requires everyone to step up and do their part. If we want to avoid some of the most severe consequences, we must act to reduce our global emissions by 43% by 2030. This reduction would limit global warming to 1.5℃. As part of this goal, we also need to be sequestering carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.?
Businesses are looking for ways to reduce their environmental impact, motivated by a desire to do the right thing for the Earth and to limit global warming, as well as responding to consumer demands. In one survey, 66% of respondents say that they consider sustainability when they make a purchase. Carbon offsets are one way some businesses are choosing to address their environmental impact, but offsets’ can have high and variable costs compared to other solutions. Planting trees is one of the most efficient and cost effective ways to build our carbon sinks’ capacities to sequester carbon dioxide, while also being an incredible marketing opportunity for your business.?
What is a carbon offset?
Carbon offsets are certificates that represent the removal or avoidance of one metric ton of carbon dioxide equivalent and can be purchased to compensate for a company’s emissions.
As you can see from the information below, offsetting costs vary based on the program’s chosen method of carbon sequestration. Even costs between different projects using the same method can be drastically different.
Carbon Offset Projects by Cost per Tonne of CO2e
These costs often fluctuate and are generally more expensive than tree planting projects to remove the same amount of carbon dioxide.?
What should my business do to reduce its environmental impact?
An important first step is to account for all of your emissions throughout your supply chain and find ways to reduce them as much as possible. There are some types of emissions that are truly unavoidable at this moment in time. For example, transportation technology hasn’t evolved to be able to transport products to customers without creating emissions. While we wait for those advancements, a more affordable option than carbon offsets is verified tree planting with Ecodrive. Each tree we plant will sequester about 500-680 pounds of CO2 in its lifetime.?
Tree planting has a host of environmental co-benefits, including habitat restoration, protection from storm surges and erosion, and filtering air and water. People may also feel an emotional connection to the trees they planted with you, creating a positive association with your brand and increasing brand loyalty.
We also think it’s extremely important to take into account how our tree planting affects the local community. We hire local villagers to plant and monitor the trees, which provides us with employees with local knowledge and provides villagers with well-paying jobs. Through this project, we offer steady employment and income to 37 people who previously had little or no income. With this steady income, our employees can set aside savings, invest in their household, diversify their income through micro-enterprises, afford healthcare, and provide everyday needs for their families.
At the end of the day, neither offsetting nor tree planting will single-handedly get us out of the climate crisis. But right now, in addition to making strides in reducing our emissions, tree planting is a great way for businesses to compensate for their unavoidable emissions. In addition to being the right thing to do for the planet, tree planting can help your business thrive. And as your business grows you’ll be able to plant even more trees. It’s a win for the planet, for your customers, and for your business.
Environmental Science and Policy Graduate
2 年I love how your company monitors the trees after you plant them! Great article