Trust Corporation International has worked with ESI Monitor to become the first business in Guernsey to carbon offset the impact of all its employees’ vehicles.
ESI Monitor, the local environmental and social impact monitoring consultancy, launched the Carbon Offset Plus scheme earlier this year with the aim to offset 10,000 tonnes of CO2 produced by local motorists a year and raise more than £100,000 to support local biodiversity.
The scheme supports environmental conservation and restoration projects in the islands, both on land and at sea.Trust Corporation has supported the initiative by identifying which employees travelled to work by car and categorising the vehicles by size (small, medium or large) and what fuel they use (petrol, diesel or a hybrid). The independent trust company’s 50 staff were then asked to estimate their annual mileage to calculate the CO2 emissions.
The cost of the offset pays for environmentally friendly projects both locally and in developing countries where the aim is to bring down emissions as economies grow.
Mort Mirghavameddin, CEO of Trust Corporation International, said: “Carbon emissions are one of the primary causes of climate change and one that we have control over, we can easily make small changes to make our carbon footprint smaller. Living on a beautiful island like Guernsey, we are encouraged to do something that is in our control to reduce our impact on the environment. This led to us engaging with ESI Monitor to carbon offset employees’ cars so we could compensate for the emissions generated by journeys to and from the office.
“We are now all proudly displaying our windscreen badges which will hopefully encourage others to participate in this great scheme. We’re very pleased that many of our employees have taken our stance to heart and have purchased electric bikes to enjoy their commute on two wheels”.
Trust Corporation is working with the Guernsey Voluntary Service this year and will also cover the cost of offsetting the charity’s fleet of vehicles.
Petra Clayton, Human Resources Business Partner at Trust Corporation International, said: “As part of our CSR programme team members volunteer every Wednesday to help serve meals at the Russell’s Day Centre and get out and about delivering for Meals on Wheels to our senior and vulnerable islanders.
“The four cars used for this service currently average around 5,110 miles per year and we wanted to extend our carbon offsetting efforts to the charity and have an even greater positive impact on our environment. It is anticipated that the charity will eventually consider using electric cars in the future”.
Trust Corporation already has the ‘community champion’ accreditation and is enrolled for the ‘environmental business’ accreditation from ESI monitor and is exploring further green initiatives to minimise its impact on Guernsey’s environment.
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