19 Apr Essex Business Goes Carbon Neutral In Time For World Earth Day
AN ECO-CONSCIOUS Essex-based business has gone the extra mile to help the environment by becoming carbon neutral in time for World Earth Day.
World Earth Day which falls on the 22nd April is a time to celebrate the planet and encourage people to be more environmentally friendly. The theme this year is about environmental and climate literacy.
The Cheeky Panda is an award-winning company manufacturing high quality tissue products from 100% virgin bamboo pulp. This means rather than using traditional toilet paper or recycled toilet tissue made from trees, there is an eco-friendly alternative that is 100% tree-free.
Not content with already being 65% more carbon efficient than conventional tissue, The Cheeky Panda have now partnered with the World Land Trust (WLT) in order to make their business completely carbon balanced.
Chris Forbes, co-founder of the tissue manufacturer, said: “One of the reasons The Cheeky Panda use bamboo is that as a grass it can be harvested every year unlike tress that once you cut them they are dead at the root. This already dramatically reduces the impact we have on the natural environment, but we wanted to go one step further and cancel out our carbon footprint entirely and we saw Earth day a s a perfect opportunity to celebrate this fact.“
The business’ affiliation with the WLT comes as part of the ‘Carbon Balanced’ programme, where the charity invite companies to offset their carbon footprint by sponsoring projects that protect and preserve forests around the planet. This conservation action has huge importance not just for the forests, but the incredible diversity of animal life they play habitat to as well.
The Cheeky Panda is sponsoring an area of north central Vietnam, called Khe Nuoc Trong – one of the best remaining examples of Annamite Lowland Forest in the world and home to a number of highly endangered species of mammal, birds, amphibians and reptiles.
This particular WLT project includes funding a team of rangers to carry out joint law enforcement activities with the local authorities that include patrolling, surveying hunting practices and illegal wildlife supply chains, monitoring and snare removal.
The project aims to elevate the level of protection for the forest to that of a Nature Reserve, to reduce pressures on the forest, preventing degradation and allowing degraded areas to return to being high quality forest again.
Chris added: “At The Cheeky Panda, we are truly passionate about creating a sustainable world for future generations, so we are dedicated to preserving the natural environment on which we all depend.”
“This new partnership with the World Land Trust is just one of the ways we help ensure our products and business have no negative impact on our planet.”
