Carbon Neutral - What does it mean and why should it matter to consumers?

First things first, here is a look at some common climate change terms and what they mean:

Climate change - A change in global or regional climate patterns, in particular a change apparent from the mid to late 20th century onwards and attributed largely to the increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by the use of fossil fuels.

Global warming - Similar to climate change but specifically the gradual increase in the overall temperature of the earth's atmosphere that is generally attributed to the greenhouse effect caused by increased levels of carbon dioxide, CFCs, and other pollutants.

Carbon footprint - A carbon footprint is the total greenhouse gas emissions caused by an individual, event, organization, service, place or product, expressed as carbon dioxide equivalent.

Greenhouse gas - Gases that trap heat in the atmosphere.

Carbon emissions -The release of carbon into the atmosphere, also known as greenhouse gases. 

Carbon credit - a permit which allows a country or organisation to produce a certain amount of carbon emissions and which can be traded if the full allowance is not used.

Carbon offsetting - Carbon offset schemes allow individuals and companies to invest in environmental projects around the world in order to balance out their own carbon footprints. 

Carbon neutral - Means that an organisation’s net greenhouse gas emissions are equal to zero, by reducing and offsetting all emissions relating to the activities of your business.

Why is carbon neutral important for businesses? 

Everything we make, buy, and sell leaves a carbon trail and by becoming certified carbon neutral, we are helping to offset our carbon footprint to reduce our impact on the planet. 

The process to become certified involves having our business measured and calculated to see what our emission output is and then we purchase carbon credits, which is an investment into schemes that removes or avoids the same amount of carbon emissions into the atmosphere. This may be through projects like reforestation that help to restore ecosystems and use trees to soak up carbon from the atmosphere or renewable energy projects to avoid emissions from traditional fossil fuels. 

All businesses around the world contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, and it is only by taking responsibility for those emissions and investing in global solution schemes that we can help to decrease carbon emissions and halt climate change.  We believe that every consumer should be able to pick brands that take responsibility for their carbon emissions.

Why is it important to consumers?

Especially in Australia, we have all seen the effects of climate change. From bushfire ravaged summers, to devastating floods that cost the lives of millions of animals and the livelihoods of thousands of people. Our beloved Great Barrier Reef is suffering mass bleaching from warmer water temperatures and our wildlife are losing their habitats. 

The Climate Council tells us that the most important thing to do is to prevent the burning of fossil fuels and to reduce their use in the future but this isn't happening fast enough anywhere - and in many cases, it's not happening at all, so it’s essential that we take action where we can and use our choices to contribute to projects that avoid fossil fuel use. It is also essential to restore Australian landscapes, for environmental reasons, and to help manage climate change. It is our choices as consumers that will ultimately lead to united global climate action. This can be as simple as choosing climate neutral brands or making small changes to your everyday lifestyle. 

We are proud to say that we are officially Carbon Neutral! Our certification is with Climate Neutral and we offset our entire carbon footprint by investing each year in nature based climate change initiatives like reforestation and soil regeneration. Head to their website to check out other brands taking responsibility.

At ZONE, we're proud of our products that are consciously created with the environment in mind. We only use sustainable, natural materials that are great for you and great for the planet. www.zonebylydia.com