The Limitations of Carbon Offsetting

Although by no means saying that what we are doing is not worthwhile, we want to be honest about the limitations of carbon offsetting as the solution for businesses as a whole. If businesses sought only to reduce their environmental impact through carbon offsetting, and not through ethical sourcing or other means, no money would be invested in technologies or processes that would actually improve how we do business and the materials and processes we use. Carbon offsetting essentially treats the symptoms, not the causes of our environmental impact. 

A perfect example for our business is our netting, which we use to wrap our Christmas trees in. We can of course offset the carbon produced from our netting, and for this year that is what we have chosen to do. But the money we have spent offsetting that carbon would be better spent in buying netting that does not need fuel in the first place. Prevention is better than cure, and of course offsetting does not take away the damage done by the production of plastic netting entirely. The microplastics which never decompose, the other harmful gases that are created (not just carbon), the raw materials needed that have to be extracted from the ground etc. Current market options have still not overcome the majority of the environmental concerns plastic netting poses, and so we felt this year our money was better spent in offsetting until a viable alternative is available. 

Naturally once a netting is available that is genuinely environmentally friendly, this will be our preferred option as opposed to carbon offsetting. The more people who invest in green solutions, the cheaper and more economical they become and eventually these green options become the norm. 

How long eventually takes is up to us. But none of us are perfect, we’re certainly not and we’ve got a long way to go. However, we’re proud to have made our first steps in the right direction and we will continue to do so. Meantime if we can help your business, or yourself personally go a little more green with some advice or contacts, drop us a line and we’ll be happy to help out in whatever way we can!