Green choices with Nationwide Courier Service
We are offering a new environmentally friendly service to counteract the carbon dioxide emissions that are made as a result of our deliveries.
If you opt into this service we will calculate the emissions made as a result of your delivery and then you will be offered the opportunity to counterbalance this figure by helping to finance the planting of new woodland in the UK.
Who will be planting the trees?
We will be working alongside The Carbon Tree who validates this work under The Woodland Carbon Code. The Code ensures that projects really do capture the CO2 they are claiming to by measuring the amount of carbon dioxide removed from the atmosphere by the growing trees.
They have been responsible for planting 40,105 trees in Warner’s Wood in the heart of rural Leicestershire. Covering 32 hectares of land, the woodland will last for a minimum of 100 years and it will absorb 10,674 tonnes of carbon dioxide in its lifetime.
Tom Riley from The Carbon Tree said: “Nationwide Courier Service may end up financing some, or all, of the creation of our Warner’s Wood or one of our other woodland creation projects that we are developing in Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire at the moment.
How much carbon dioxide does a delivery emit?
We have calculated that the average parcel delivery causes 42kg of carbon dioxide to be released. If we were to finance the planting of the whole of Warner’s Wood in Leicestershire, they will capture enough emissions to counterbalance the footprint of delivering around 250,000 parcels.
The average carbon footprint of a British citizen is 10.9 tonnes of CO2 per year. This means that over the lifetime of the Warner’s Wood project the trees will capture the emissions of about 979 people for one year.
Why are trees important?
Trees absorb carbon dioxide which helps to combat climate change by reducing the number of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide emissions are the main cause of climate change.
According to The Carbon Tree, CO2 emissions are at the highest level experienced by the earth for 4.5 million years.
The Forestry Commission says that young forests grow rapidly and soak up carbon more quickly than mature forests, so planting new trees is an ideal way to capture carbon, especially the production of more carbon which of course happens when we drive vehicles with your goods aboard.
What does the government say?
The government has committed to cutting carbon emissions to 50% of what they were in 1990 by 2025. Their initiative is called the Carbon Reduction Commitment which aims to cut emissions in both public and private sector organisations.
What are the other benefits of creating woodland?
There are plenty of other benefits to creating a thriving woodland. For instance, it will create a habitat for native wildlife and therefore improving biodiversity in the area. And, of course, it makes for a nice family walk!
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