If you follow us on social, you might have seen that we are 100% carbon neutral. But what does that even mean? First off, let's define a few things. Carbon, in this case, refers to greenhouse gas emissions, which are primarily made up of carbon dioxide. The emission of greenhouse gases from burning natural gas, flying airplanes and driving cars build up in the atmosphere and insulate heat, ultimately contributing to global warming. Every person, company and brand has a carbon footprint. That said, being carbon neutral means that the carbon emissions that you have emitted have been negated down zero, by combating them directly using these things called carbon offsets.
Carbon Offsets
Carbon offsets are basically investments in projects that reduce carbon emissions or stop them from happening in the first place. This could be anything; from an investment in the development of a wind farm, a forest regeneration project, or even in the expansion of electric vehicle charging stations. There are carbon offset projects in every part of the world, and they can vary greatly in size, type, and even quality.
Not All Offsets are Created Equal
The world of carbon offsetting is kind of like the wild west, meaning there are not a lot of laws that regulate the process. Without the proper verifications in place, it can be hard to ensure that the offset projects you are investing in are doing what they are supposed to - aka reduce, stop or capture carbon emissions. To be certain our efforts aren’t in vain, Knickey has partnered with Climate Neutral to source our offsets. They have strict guidelines for offsets and make sure that all offset projects are verified by the top carbon offset registries - no greenwashing here. Not only does Climate neutral allow us the opportunity to offset our emissions, but they also help us measure our total footprint, so we can be sure that we are purchasing the right amount of offsets to achieve neutrality each year. Being Climate Neutral certified is just one of the many ways we make sure that everything we say is backed up by experts.
Our Stance and Approach to Offsetting
At Knickey, we know that offsetting is not a silver bullet solution to curbing carbon emissions. But we also know that the most important way to start doing that is to actually reduce emissions in the first place! As much as we push to reduce our carbon footprint throughout our entire supply chain, there are some areas where we have little to no control over the total energy use or fuel source - like the gasoline that USPS uses to power their delivery trucks. That’s why we utilize offsets at all: to take care of our carbon footprint in the areas that we can’t reduce ourselves. At Knickey, we will continue to work to reduce energy use and emissions in areas that we can control, and use offsets to make an impact in the areas of our supply chain where we can’t.
