At YOURGB we’re passionate about the environment and we’re raising our game to protect it.

We have officially become Carbon Neutral!

Great! But what does that actually mean?

YOURGB now tracks our carbon emissions (aka carbon footprint) and we offset them all using verified carbon offsetting projects. This also means that, in theory, we neutralise our negative environmental impact.

In theory?

Yes, carbon footprint is a fairly simple (and the most ‘talked about’) tool to track environmental impact, but it doesn’t cover it entirely. There are other issues to consider, such as land use, food & water management, use of rare minerals and other natural resources and more.

For that reason, we always like to keep in mind that carbon offsetting is far from being the solution to climate change – rather, it’s like putting a plaster on a wound while waiting for a doctor’s treatment.

Gotcha, but for now you ‘simply plant trees to offset emissions?’

Nope, it’s not only about planting trees!

Although tree planting is the most popular carbon offsetting method – thanks to their ability of photosynthesis (yes, we also wish we paid more attention in our chemistry classes!), trees can take carbon out of the atmosphere and produce oxygen. That makes them one of the most important allies of everyone who likes to breathe. Even this is not so simple though, as many things factor in – for example type of trees planted.

There is a range of other carbon offsetting and carbon removal solutions, but this is too vast of a topic to chat about now…

In a nutshell, YOURGB’s approach to offsetting consists of supporting projects preventing carbon emissions being produced in the future. For example, these include developing renewables energy infrastructure or supplying sustainable appliances to communities around the world.

Brilliant! So offsetting is sorted, but there’s more to do to make our planet happy, right?

That’s correct!

Carbon offsetting is merely a temporary solution. The Earth doesn’t have the capacity to keep offsetting all the emissions we produce – particularly if we keep producing more and more every year. This may be an uncomfortable truth for many of us but doing more of what caused the climate change is simply not going to fix it.

I think I understand better now. So what else is it there that YOURGB does to improve its environmental impact?

I’m glad you asked. Here are a few examples of how we’re improving YOURgb environmental impact:

20-minutes Walking Zones

We created a new ‘20-minutes walking zone’ rule for ourselves, so if we have to go anywhere and the place is within 20 minutes walking distance then we – well, you get the gist of it…

Sustainable Transport as a Default

Not all our destinations are close enough to walk – it’s probably no surprise that not too many people are keen to hike all the way to London…

When we do have to travel further, it is our policy to choose sustainable travel by default, with particular focus on reducing our the amount of domestic flights we take. Although we are unfortunately not in a position to fully stop flying, we work closely with our partners to make arrangements that allow us to travel effectively and sustainably.

Educating Ourselves About Climate Change

YOURGB team participated in climate education workshop ‘Climate Fresk’. This was an amazing opportunity to bond as a team while learning more about the challenges we face. Our commitment and motivation to improving our sustainability has never been stronger.

Supporting Our Clients’ Sustainability Efforts

YOURGB now provides an estimated carbon footprint to every event enquiry, alongside our suggested solutions for reducing in. We believe this can help our clients to make better informed choices and run events that don’t cost the Earth. At YOURGB, our clients are at the heart of what we do and we’re committed to supporting them to deliver sustainable events.

Watch This Space…

YOURGB is looking at other solutions that would help the environment as well as the wellbeing of our team, such as the Cycle to Work Scheme.

While we’re happy with our progress, we’re far from finished. Much work is still needed to tackle climate change and protect the future of us all and everyone at YOURGB has rolled up their sleeves to play the part.

What is that you do to protect the environment? We’re always keen to hear new ideas, so get in touch and let’s grab a coffee and talk sustainability!

Drop us an email at ask@yourgb.co.uk