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 at Whitbread 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.
