London, 2nd April, 2012: The Carbon Trust is today announcing
the launch of the world's first Carbon Footprinting Gallery. The
exhibition, running from 2nd - 4th of April at the Future Gallery, London, celebrates
companies that are pioneering and shaping the future of carbon
footprinting.
Through displays including an army of concrete jelly babies, a
miniature bed, a sack of potatoes and a bubble machine, the Carbon
Trust gallery showcases how a diverse range of brands including BT,
Danone, Dyson, The Football Association, Formica Group, The
Go-Ahead Group, Greener Planet, Loomis, Manchester United,
SodaStream, Tarmac, Tesco, Walkers and Whitbread, have reduced the
carbon footprint of their products, services or organisation.
The brands exhibiting recognise that everything we buy, produce
and use has a carbon impact, and that helping customers to make
more environmentally friendly choices when they shop is becoming
increasingly important. Some brands are also working to reduce the
carbon footprint at an organisational level by implementing
energy-saving measures such as intelligent lighting controls and
staff engagement programmes.
The Gallery opens as new research from the Carbon Trust explores
Generation Y's[1] attitude to climate change
and carbon reduction, revealing that young people favour brands
that can demonstrate they are working hard to reduce their carbon
emissions. The study, which questioned over 2,500 young
people across five continents in Brazil, China, South Africa, South
Korea, UK and the USA, found that 70% of respondents would be more
loyal to brands that show evidence of working to reduce their
carbon footprint, and a third (33%) would buy a more expensive
product if it had a smaller carbon footprint. A half (49%) of
young adults questioned were even prepared to stop buying a product
if its manufacturer refused to commit to measuring and reducing the
product's carbon footprint.
Tom Delay, Chief Executive, Carbon Trust says, "We created the
Gallery to inspire people to take a fresh look at carbon, and shine
a light on brands that are taking positive action to limit their
environmental impact. The diversity of the exhibits in the
Gallery reflects the broad range of industries that are now taking
carbon seriously, and using carbon footprinting as an important
first step on the journey to managing their environmental impact.
Our research underscores the growing interest in the environment
among young adults around the world, and an increasing awareness of
the carbon impact of their purchasing decisions. Forward-thinking
brands that are already working to measure and reduce their carbon
impact will be well-placed to respond to consumer demand for
evidence of low carbon action."
Gabrielle Ginér, Environmental Sustainability Manager,BT,
said:
"We are delighted to be part of this world first exhibition and
Carbon Footprinting Gallery. Working with the experts from the
Carbon Trust on carbon footprinting and independent verification
against the new GHG Protocol Product Standard, has enabled us to
understand the full life cycle emissions for some of our flagship
consumer products. This has helped to give us a sense of the
size and scale of the carbon impact and will allow us to focus our
carbon reduction activities on where they will make the most
difference."
Steve Godwin, Public Affairs Manager,Danone, said:
"The Footprinting Gallery is an excellent way for Danone UK to
partner with the Carbon Trust and to showcase our fantastic work
together. Changing our Actimel bottles from oil to plant-based
material is a big step towards Danone's commitment to reducing the
carbon footprint of our products and is part of Danone's wider
sustainability journey."
David Brown, Group Chief Executive,The Go-Ahead Group, said:
"We are delighted to be supporting the Footprinting Gallery.
Go-Ahead has worked with the Carbon Trust since 2008,
when we became the first UK transport operator to receive Carbon
Trust accreditation after taking action to cut our emissions.
Reducing our carbon footprint is integral to our business strategy,
and we continually seek ways to further reduce our footprint and
use fuel more efficiently. We aim to achieve a 20 per cent per
passenger journey reduction by 2015 - a target we are well on
course to meet."
Robert Joseph, Producer,Greener Planet Organic and Sustainable
Wines, said:
"I am truly looking forward to seeing our Greener Planet wine as
part of the Footprinting Gallery - and very awed to be in such
illustrious company. Carbon Trust certification, and the rigour
that lies behind it, are very important to a brand with a name like
Greener Planet. It means that we can demonstrate that we walk the
walk as well as talking the talk."
George Johnstone, Chairman,Manchester United Environmental
Management Action Group, said:
"Manchester United are very pleased to partner the Carbon Trust
in this carbon foot printing exhibition and demonstrate our
on-going commitment to Energy Efficiency & Carbon Management as
a very important element of our CSR and Sustainability programmes,
and we are pleased to pro-actively encourage other sporting clubs
and organisations around the UK to engage with the highly regarded
Carbon Trust Standard Certification."
Fiona Hope, Managing Director,SodaStream, said:
"We are delighted to be a part of the Carbon Trust Footprint
Gallery. The installation is a creative way of demonstrating the
footprinting work of SodaStream and allows us to communicate the
environmental benefit of the product vs. single use shop bought
plastic bottles and cans in a fun and interactive way."
Greg Gillin, Group Stadium Operation Director,Wembley Stadium,
said:
"Wembley Stadium has reduced energy consumption year on year
since 2007 and is proud to be exhibited as a case study at the
world's first ever global Carbon Footprinting Gallery exhibition
which is being run by The Carbon Trust. The Board and Senior
Management are delighted that the hard work carried out by Wembley
Stadium Green Team has been recognised and showcased in this
manner."
Nigel Graham, Head of Property Procurement atWhitbread Hotels
and Restaurants, said:
"Across all of our brands we are looking at innovative ways of
lessening our impact on the environment and using the scale of our
business to effect positive change. The Premier Inn
Signature bed is a key product for our hotel business. With more
than 47,000 Premier beds across 620 UK hotels, reducing the carbon
footprint of the Premier Inn bed offers us a real opportunity to
lower the carbon emissions from our supply chain and takes us a
step closer to achieving our target of a 26% reduction in our
carbon emissions by 2020.
"We have been working closely with Hypnos, our bed supplier, and
the Carbon Trust to analyse the carbon emissions produced from the
manufacture of the Premier Inn bed and we are now focussed on
driving down these emissions to create a more sustainable bed for
the future."
Carbon Footprinting Gallery Launch video
Watch the video of the launch event below
Editor's Notes
Brands exhibiting:
BT - fibre
optics exhibit
Working with the Carbon Trust, BT assessed the footprint of
three of its products; the BT Home Hub, the BT Vision+ set-top box
and the BT Graphite 2500 DECT phone.
Danone - sugar
cane exhibit
Danone has worked with the Carbon Trust to reduce the carbon
footprint of its Actimel bottles by 65%. The carbon reduction
was achieved by switching from a petroleum-based bottle to a 95%
plant-based bottle, using plastic derived from sugar cane.
Dyson - waste
paper basket exhibit
The Dyson Airblade™ hand dryer channels cold air at 400mph and
literally scrapes water from hands in 10 seconds. Unlike
conventional hand dryers, it doesn't require a power-hungry heating
element - making it up to 80% more energy efficient than other
standard dryers.
Formica Group
- Formica-covered plinth exhibit
The Formica Group, a leading provider of innovative surfacing
products, worked with the Carbon Trust to certify its range of High
Pressure Laminate, Continuous Process Laminate, Compact Laminate
and Bonded Worktops.
The Football
Association (FA) - turf exhibit
The Football Association (FA) worked with the Carbon Trust to
certify the FA headquarters Wembley Stadium to the Carbon Trust
Standard (CTS). The FA was able to lower carbon emissions as a
result of improving building management system controls for
lighting, heating and ventilation; efficient equipment upgrades;
and appointing a dedicated Sustainability Manager.
Greener Planet
- giant wine glass exhibit
Working alongside the Carbon Trust, Celliers Jean D'Alibert
measured and calculated the carbon footprint of its 'Greener
Planet' brand, increasing the quantity of wine contained in a
bottle of Greener Planet Wine, and switched from using glass to
fully recyclable plastic wine bottles.
The Go-Ahead
Group - model train exhibit
The Go-Ahead Group, a leading UK provider of passenger
transport, was the first transport company to be recertified to the
Carbon Trust Standard, which certifies that the Group successfully
cut emissions across its operations over a five year period.
Loomis - piggy
bank on wheels exhibit
Loomis UK is a leading service provider which helps with the
secure management of cash around the UK. Loomis UK measured the
footprint of its Cash and Valuables in Transit vehicles and earned
the right to use the Carbon Trust's Carbon Reduction Label.
Manchester
United - football exhibit
Between July 2006 and June 2009 through initiatives to measure,
manage and reduce its carbon emissions, Manchester United achieved
a reduction of 7% and became the 250th company in the UK to net the
Carbon Trust Standard.
SodaStream -
bubble machine exhibit
To understand the environmental impact of its products,
SodaStream worked with the Carbon Trust to certify the carbon
footprint of sparkling water, cola and diet cola made with its Fizz
Home Drinks Maker and concentrated syrups.
Tarmac - small
army of concrete jelly babies exhibit
Tarmac was awarded the Carbon Trust Standard in 2010 for its
work in measuring, managing and reducing emissions across its
operations. In 2011, Tarmac reported an 18% reduction in specific
energy consumption and an 11% reduction in specific carbon
emissions compared to 2004.
Tesco - cup of
tea, milk and kettle exhibit
Since 2008, Tesco has calculated the carbon footprint of over
1100 of its own brand products including teabags, milk and kettles;
this work enables Tesco to understand the greenhouse gas emissions
associated with that great British staple, a cup of tea, and focus
its efforts on reducing those emissions.
Walkers - sack
of potatoes exhibit
Walkers crisps was the first brand in the world to display the
Carbon Trust Carbon Reduction Label in 2007. It was also the
first to retain the label in 2009 after it successfully reduced its
total carbon footprint by 6g of CO2, or 7%.
Whitbread -
miniature bed exhibit
With the assistance of the Carbon Trust, Whitbread, owner of
Premier Inn hotels calculated the carbon footprint of one of its
most important assets - the signature Premier Inn bed.
Additional statistics from the research:
- 83% of youth in China would be more loyal to a brand if they
could see it is reducing its carbon footprint, compared to 73% in
Korea, 55% in the UK and 57% in the USA
- 81% of young adults in Brazil felt companies should be obliged
to provide proof of their policy to reduce their carbon footprint,
higher than any other nation
- 68% of those surveyed worldwide want to see companies' carbon
impact quantified by an independent organisation
- When asked which products and categories can do the most to
reduce their carbon footprint 68% of young consumers cited consumer
electronics companies in the top three, followed by consumer
healthcare brands (50%), clothes manufacturers and retailers (50%),
and food manufacturers and retailers (48%)
About the Research
The research was conducted online by TNS using Lightspeed Research
and its preferred partner panels between 24th February and 6th
March 2012. Males and females aged 18-25 were interviewed
across six different countries -US (501), UK (501), South Korea
(500), Brazil (500), China (500) and South Africa (300). Due
to the nature of online research, the data is indicative of the
attitudes and behaviour of young people in these countries.
About the Carbon Trust
The Carbon Trust is a not for profit group with the mission to
accelerate the move to a low carbon economy.
We advise businesses, governments and the public sector on their
opportunities in a sustainable, low carbon world. We measure and
certify the environmental footprint of organisations, supply chains
and products. We help develop and deploy low carbon
technologies and solutions, from energy efficiency to renewable
power.
[1] Males and females aged 18 - 25