Carbon

We’re doing something about carbon

End of June each year is not only our financial year end, it’s also the end of our carbon year. We will need to calculate quite how much carbon we’ve used running our business for the previous 12 months. To help us do this we chose industry experts ‘EcoAct’ (Eco-Act.com) as our partners to help and guide us.

Back in 2006 we were possibly the first wine company to commission a study on emission rates for global wine transport based on how we shipped our wines. Not everyone knows that, type of transport (ship or lorry) is as important as world location, when it comes to emission rates per case of wine. Some interesting statistics were revealed and some popular myths dispelled, for example a case of wine being shipped on a large boat (more carbon efficient) from S.Africa had a lower carbon emission compared to a case being shipped by lorry from southern Italy. Not necessarily what you would expect.

None of our wines are shipped by air.

For carbon counting purposes, the shipping of wine constitutes a large proportion, but after that we need to add in the companies fuel usage from it’s own vehicles, and travel by plane, trains and cars, forklift fuel, our postage, general materials and waste. As we don’t ‘manufacture’ anything our direct power consumption is low, and we only run, light and heat an office here at the Farm. We’ve chosen many years ago now, to use a company whose power comes only from 100% renewable sources – Good Energy (www.goodenergy.co.uk) This source is therefore already carbon neutral.
Our total carbon calculation to June 12 last year was 210 tonnes, and Carbon Clear charged us the required amount to offset. These costs come out of any profit our business makes, and we’ll continue to support them unless there’s a better solution available. After October this year all companies listed on the main market of the London Stock Exchange must report their organisations carbon emissions.

One important reason we choose to use Carbon Clear is that you have choice or at least can know where your money goes. Last year our payment went to the ‘Cakit run-of-river hydro power project in Turkey’. Here, they have directly been reducing emissions by fossil fuels by displacement, by providing clean, renewable energy from flowing water instead. The project supports a range of social and environmental benefits including reforestation, the creation of 13 jobs and an environmental awareness campaign in schools.

Why not contact Good Energy, if you say you have come via Vintage Roots they will give you £50 of our vouchers to spend on our wines, when you make the switch?

 

Head on over to our ‘What we are’ page to see how we’re helping the environment.