Ekos Lowers the Bar to Carbon Neutrality
Ekos Lowers the Bar to Carbon Neutrality
2017 could
become the year when carbon neutrality starts to become the
new normal. But many New Zealand businesses have disregarded
carbon neutrality as an expensive voluntary activity where
costs outweigh the benefits. In response, a new social
enterprise – Ekos – has developed a low cost carbon
neutrality service.
Ekos Executive Director Dr Sean
Weaver said that only a small minority of business will go
carbon neutral while costs remain high.
“But we want to
make carbon neutrality accessible to all businesses so that
we can get to a low carbon economy. This is why we have
developed a low cost system compliant with and certified to
international carbon standards,” he said.
“Our
approach is to provide a middle path between a rigid system
with heavy compliance costs, and a flimsy system with no
certification or transparency, Dr Weaver said.
Ekos won a
Sustainable Business Network award for its innovative system
designed to enable small and medium sized businesses go
carbon neutral without breaking the bank.
Last year Ekos
helped a one-person start-up business go carbon neutral for
just $63 per year. This was after the same business had
received quotes for thousands of dollars from other carbon
service providers. A small consulting firm went carbon
neutral with Ekos for $483. Another business with about 10
staff and 200 domestic flights a year went carbon neutral
with Ekos for $1,117 per year.
“The issue is a low
carbon economy and how we get there. The private sector can
play a strong leadership role but only when the price is not
prohibitive. We built Ekos to make this sustainability
leadership much easier,” Weaver said.
“Our purpose is
to maximise the beneficial environmental impact of every
customer dollar spent whilst maintaining scientific rigour.
This is why and how we can deliver this high quality yet low
cost carbon neutrality system,” he
said.
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