It makes business sense to reduce your business’s impact on the environment – it can reduce your costs and is a powerful tool to promote your business.
Yes, you can become more efficient, but in the end you will still have an impact that cannot be reduced further without adversely affecting your ability to operate or compete.
This is where we can help. The way to tackle this last reduction is through offsetting - the practice of doing a positive action to compensate for your negative impact.
The most obvious way is planting a tree. We will do this in a way that only plants native trees that achieve bio-diversity in the Wellington region – OUR region.
Aim of Greenprint
To give companies in the Wellington region the means to make payments to offset their carbon emissions to invest in community-based tree planting and regeneration activities.
Project Outcomes
Through Greenprint we aim to achieve the following outcomes:
1. Increase native bio-diversity planting in the Wellington region
2. Reduce the emissions from participating companies across the region
3. Increase the funding and participation in community-driven regeneration activity
Outcomes for Companies Participating in Greenprint
Companies that join Greenprint will:
1. Gain recognition for what they have done in agreeing an action plan and offsetting their emissions
2. Contribute to community programmes in the region that will in turn contribute to reducing the total emissions from the Wellington region
3. Be able to promote their activities to current and new clients and users of their product or service
Outcomes for Community Groups
Greenprint gives community groups the ability to gain financial support for their native regeneration activities. We aggregate the activity of lots of companies and provide easy access to community carbon absorbing projects that will benefit from this.
The Project
Greenprint is NOT seeking to trade carbon credits. It IS about ASSISTING companies in the region REDUCE their environmental impact by investing in the local environment AND gaining recognition for participating.
You Control What you Offset
Greenprint puts you in control of what you offset. We will work with you to calculate your carbon footprint. You will be given the choice on what you then want to offset. You could:
- Offset your electricity and power use
- Offset your travel
- Offset a proportion of your carbon footprint – we recommend 20% blocks
- Offset a particular event – eg a conference, your annual meeting
- Give your customers the option to offset their activity eg hire of a car, their stay at your hotel etc
When you agree your offset you have the option of matching it to a specific eligible project, or activity, or to be invested within a specific local area in the Wellington region. If you do not specify, the Trust will invest the money in a project in the Wellington region.
Treemission Trust
The Sustainable Capital Company has set up ‘Treemission Trust’ that will collect these offset payments and will invest in community projects. All payments for offset that you make will go to the Trust. This ensures the offset is ring fenced and can only be used for offsetting purposes.
Treemission Trust will use the offset payments to fund community-based activity that will achieve bio-diversity and native regeneration in the Wellington Region. This could be trees planted in community facilities - in your LOCAL school, park or reserve. That way you are helping your company and your local community.
How it Will Work
2. Once you have registered your interest you will be contacted by us to discuss your environmental policy and your options for signing up with Greenprint. You will also receive by email copies of the advice and support available which includes:
- a guide to calculating carbon footprints
- a template for a Sustainability Policy and Action Plan
- Offset options
3. Once signed up you will receive:
- The logo for use on your website, letterhead and marketing collateral
- A certificate detailing the offset purchased
- Publicity on the SCC website, a link from here to your website, and other publicity and promotional activity such as adverts in the local business and community press
Cost
Signing up for Greenprint will cost:
- $200 if you employ more than 10
- $150 if you employ less than 10
This covers programme administration and the support required to develop the sustainability policy and action plan. In addition, you will make an offset investment at a level that you choose.
Greenprint only seeks to cover its cost – it’s a not-for-profit service set up by the Sustainable Capital Company to assist companies to do the right thing locally.
Sponsorship
The Treemission Trust is also seeking corporate sponsorship for its activities. This can take a number of forms:
- Assisting community groups to set up voluntary programmes to help them plant and undertake their regeneration work
- Putting signage on the sites assisted
- Putting in seats and amenities on the sites supported
- Buying equipment for community groups to use
- Assisting with the operating activities of the Trust
If you would like to discuss Corporate Sponsorship with us, please contact us to discuss further.
Want to go further than this?
Greenprint is not a total package - it will not provide all the answers, but it offers a great start. If there are additional activities you would like to undertake, Sustainable Capital Company can help you do this. Contact us to find out more.
Our Partners
All of the businesses that join Greenprint are our partners. We have joined together to assist the region to become a lower carbon generating region.