Green Credentials
WEBMART® takes the impact of our activity on the environment very seriously and has an active policy of eliminating the carbon footprint of our commercial activity.
The Carbon Footprint for WEBMART® was 142 tonnes in 2007/8. Click here to see our eco-audit.
All carbon is offset - click here to view our certificate, and you can also see us listed alongside other carbon balanced companies.
WEBMART® Offset - Reserva Buenaventura, Ecuador
The Buenaventura Reserve is located in low-altitude cloud forest at 750-1200 meters above sea level in the foothills of the Pacific slope of the Andes. It is bio-diverse and rich in endemic species but also a highly threatened forest type - 90% has been lost, mainly since the 1950s, and the rest is reduced to relict fragments in cattle pasture. The Buenaventura area, though suffering like the rest of the habitat, was always known to be one of the richest sites. WLT’s Ecuadorian partner Fundación Jocotoco therefore established a reserve there with the particular aim of conserving sufficient forest to maintain a viable population of the newly discovered and endangered El Oro Parakeet, aratinga orcesi. The reserve now covers 1600 ha and, apart from the parakeet, harbours many other rare birds as well as a large diversity of mammals and plants. A new species of glass frog was recently discovered on the reserve and has been named cochranella buenaventura.
There are two carbon sequestration initiatives here, helping to regenerate degraded pasture parcels, extending the habitat of the El Oro Parakeet and protecting the watershed of the neighbouring Piñas Municipality. Planting conditions are good, though rapid re-growth of tall invasive grass and bracken require constant cleaning. This is undertaken by locally-recruited crews, providing a useful source of supplementary income in an economically depressed rural milieu.
The first was established in 2005, purchasing and replanting a 10 ha parcel of cleared land at the entrance to the reserve. A mixture of 14 native species has been used, consisting of fast-growing pioneers and slower-growing mature forest hardwoods. The seedlings were sourced from local family nurseries and the Buenaventura on-site nursery. At a sale price of US $0.20 per seedling a local family can earn US $2,000 – $5,000 per year through seedling production which is another valuable addition to the family’s annual income. Over the 20 year project delivery period the 10 ha parcel will provide 1420 tonnes of ‘Kyoto-compliant’ carbon dioxide offsets.
The second carbon initiative was established in November 2007 with the purchase of the Rodas property, a 45 ha extension to the south of the Buenaventura reserve. It is also a conservation ‘hotspot’ for the El Oro Parakeet, being in one of its favoured nesting areas.
Like the rest of Buenaventura the original forest cover had been cleared off for grazing land, emissions leaving c. 10% as relict wooded patches. The sequestration strategy delivers CO2 offsets by saving these standing patches from clearance combined with assisting natural regeneration over the pasture land. It is therefore a mixture of ‘REDD’ and Kyoto-compliant reforestation. Over the 20 year delivery period the Rodas property will sequester and prevent the release of 4585.45 tonnes of carbon dioxide. The forward plan for 2008 is to fence the property and appoint a guard to manage the site. Some minor enrichment planting may be required in the upcoming years to boost the natural regeneration of the forest.
Click here for the WLT's 2007 Annual report
Working with Clients - Craghoppers: Case Study
"WEBMART® takes the impact of their activity on the environment very seriously, they have an active policy of eliminating the carbon footprint of our commercial activity." - Craghoppers catalogue, page 64.
Download the Craghoppers plan to save the planet!
CARBON REDUCTION MEASURES - 2008
Cars:
Our company car policy has an upper emission limit of 190g/km for 2008, reducing 10g/km per year to an upper cap of 130g/km by 2014. In addition we always share journeys wherever possible and and have a pro-active policy of bike use (yellow ones of course!).
Public Transport:
WEBMARTEERS have to always use public transport where available as a matter of policy, and always use the lowest emission option (low-cost airlines, are less polluting than the legacy airlines for example).
IT Services
The servers that host our various websites are provided by 1&1 - the first large web host to rely solely on renewable energy.
Office:
18% of our carbon footprint is in the office. We have changed providers of electricity to GOOD ENERGY - the UK's only 100% renewable energy provider.
FSC/PEFC/ISO 14001 Accreditation - we are well down the path to gaining these environmental accreditations and will tell you as soon as we have!
Eco-Print/Print-miles: clients and suppliers will be able to calculate and offset their print projects footprint via our FreePrintManagement.com site - another world first.
The WEBMART® Oxygen Farm™ - for each £1 clients offset under the Eco-Print initiative, WEBMART® will invest £1 into re-afforesting an area of agricultural land in the UK with indigenous hardwood trees. To enhance the environment still further we will have the area actively managed to encourage bio-diversity and all forms of bloodsports will be banned from it.
At WEBMART® we want to show that exceptional achievement and a sustainable eco-balance is possible. We're not there yet but every day we aim to be a little closer.
