At POPSICASE we want to minimize our ecological footprint and that’s why we bet for compensation CO2 emissions or carbon offset. But how we do it? By investing in a reforestation project in Perú to capture all the CO2 we have generated during the manufacturing process.
First we calculate the CO2 emissions of the manufacturing process
When we use electric energy or travel in a vehicle, greenhouse gases, above all CO2, are emitted into the atmosphere, which contribute to global warming. The first step anyone should do to reduce his or her ecological footprint is to be aware of it. For this reason you need to know how much fuel or energy is spent in every activity we carry out. Once you know this, we can calculate the volume of CO2 released into the atmosphere.
At POPSICASE we pay attention to the manufacturing process. The factory that produces our cases has a monitoring system that calculates energy expenditures and, at the same time, CO2 volume, as you can see in this picture taken at the factory:
A carbon offset calculator
In the first-run of 2.000 POPSICASE units, energy consumption was 2.486 Kw, and the volume of CO2 released, 795,76.
The emissions must be captured in another site of the planet
Let’s remember that trees are the lungs of the world and that they emit oxygen through CO2 uptake (photosynthesis is like breathing in reverse). Compensation for CO2 emissions is the voluntary contribution of a sum of money proportional to the weight of CO2 generated (in this case 0.79 tons) to a project in a developing country that specifically seeks to capture that amount by reforestation.
After we calculate the CO2 emissions of the shipping
Considering that the weight of each POPSICASE with the box is 85g; taking the precautionary principle, by which the maximum distance is used for the calculation of the HC; and considering that land transport in Zone A is by van
the emission results for transport are as follows (in gCO2/unit):
Europe standard: 94 g
Europe express: 524 g
Rest of the world: 1047 g
And afterwards we achieve the carbon offset
POPSICASE compensates the CO2 emissions through the CeroCO2 project (in which I was working for more than two years), led by the Spanish NGO ECODES, which has been working for global sustainability for twenty years. In our case, we opted for Amazonía en Madre de Dios en Perú, a great community reforestation initiative that brings together small farmers in Perú to reforest parts of their out of use land, and is driven by the NGO Taking Root. Here you have some snapshots sent by the organization:
We also invite you to, individually, calculate our carbon footprint and help us minimize it. There are many websites and calculators online. Let us show you some of them:
1.- Carbon foot print calculator
2.- An infographic on global transport and the amount of emissions released in real time.
3.- How to compensate for your land cover
If you know some additional resources, please let us know!