UK's first mobile phone carbon offset calculator launched
09 April 2008
TNT Post creates groundbreaking initiative for staff to go-green in association with the Woodland Trust
TNT Post has launched the UK’s first WAP enabled mobile phone carbon calculator for its employees. The Mobile Carbon Calculator allows individuals to calculate and measure carbon emissions, access tips to reduce their footprint, and offset through the Woodland Trust’s tree planting programme.
The launch of the Mobile Carbon Calculator, which questions users about carbon-heavy lifestyle activities including driving, is the latest initiative in the company’s commitment to becoming the lowest carbon emission mailing company. TNT Post is realising this ambition both through addressing the impact of it own operations and supporting employees to reduce personal carbon footprints, which are estimated to be the same as the entire global business again.
To help encourage employees to take action at home and in their personal lives, TNT Post wanted to develop a product that could be used anytime, anywhere, taking into account the significant percentage of employees not office based with computer access.
Utilising the experience, technology and success of TNT Post's existing mobile phone marketing and recruitment campaigns, staff can access the calculator by texting CALC to 60123. This leads users directly to the calculator where they can use the advice articles to cut their carbon footprints and track their carbon cutting progress. Users who wish to offset their carbon emissions can then do so by making secure tax-free donations to the leading woodland conservation charity, Woodland Trust, through their mobile phone bill or via a PayPal link. PayPal allows users send and receive payments online securely and easily.
Following the expected popularity of the calculator, TNT Post plans to launch the Mobile Carbon Calculator to its customers and prospective customers later this year.
Simon Dolph, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility for TNT Post, said:
"Through initiatives such as the Mobile Carbon Calculator, TNT Post is committed to going beyond regulatory environmental compliance and beyond our corporate CSR programme, in order to support and lower the carbon emissions of our entire supply chain, from employees to customers. Employees' personal carbon footprints double TNT Post's carbon emissions and we want to help our employees to take environmental responsibility outside of work too. If we can reduce employee carbon emissions by just two percent, the impact on the environment would be very real.
"We are very pleased to be working with a respected environmental organisation like the Woodland Trust, which we believe provides transparency and reliability in carbon offsetting. TNT Post understands the environmental impact of its business and its employees and is committed to drastically reducing this impact into the future."
Clare Allen, Head of Corporate Partnerships for the Woodland Trust, said: "The UK is the least wooded country in Europe with only 12 percent woodland compared to 46 percent on the continent. We aim to change this and with the help of TNT Post’s staff the trees planted will help us continue to preserve and enhance the environment, for all of us.
"We are aware tree planting is not the solution to climate change. But we do believe it can play a role once people have reduced and continued to reduce their carbon footprints."
Mr Dolph added: "As a company TNT Post is known for its innovation and excellence in the market place, and we want to continue this in our approach to corporate social responsibility. To be the first UK company to introduce a mobile phone carbon calculator is exciting for us, but more importantly, it offers a practical and easy-to-use method for our employees to understand their individual impact on the environment and encourages them to do something about it. We look forward to an enthusiastic response from our staff."
