Why We Don’t Have a Scope 2 Carbon Footprint: Our Partnership with Energy Garden

Thanks to our partnership with the wonderful Energy Garden, we don’t have a Scope 2 carbon footprint (hooray!). But who are Energy Garden? What do they do? And what on earth is a Scope 2 Carbon Footprint? All the answers are in this blog…

What is a Scope 2 Carbon Footprint?

When an organisation calculates its carbon footprint, it’s made up of three elements, or scopes.

Scope 1 refers to emissions from sources the company is directly responsible for. In our case, that’s things like the wood pellets made from waste sawdust (as opposed to fossil fuels, such as coal) that we use in the biomass boilers at our factory.

Scope 2 refers to emissions caused indirectly by energy purchased from another organisation – things like gas or electricity that come from a secondary supplier. We use solar energy to power our factory… keep reading to find out where it comes from!

Scope 3 refers to any other indirect emissions that don’t come under Scope 1 or Scope 2, because they’re not caused directly by an organisation but by their suppliers or customers. In our case, this means things like the emissions caused by our suppliers, or what customers do with our packaging when they’ve finished using our products.

You can read more about our emissions and what we’re doing to reduce them (including working with our suppliers to help them reduce theirs) in our Impact Report.

Why Don’t We Have a Scope 2 Carbon Footprint?

We don’t have a Scope 2 carbon footprint because the energy we buy to power our factory is 100% renewable - and we buy it from Energy Garden.

Who are Energy Garden and What Do They Do?

Energy Garden are an award-winning, community-owned solar energy cooperative who provide 100% renewable energy through their innovative use of railway spaces. They also do amazing things for people and the planet. No wonder they just scooped the Environmental Excellence Award at the National Rail Awards (which we’re told is ‘the railway’s answer to the Oscars’!)

Where Does Energy Garden’s Renewable Energy Come From?

Energy Garden work with transportation companies to produce their 100% renewable, solar energy. They install solar panels on the huge roofs of train storage depots in London. And they raise money to do this by selling shares to the community, who receive dividends on their investment and have the opportunity to share ideas for improvement at the Annual General Meeting. Pictured above are members of the community in front of the Energy Garden solar panels on top of Streatham Train Care Depot. There are 500 members of the Energy Garden Community Benefit Society, and between them they’ve raised more than £1 million for solar development so far. If you’re interested in finding out about becoming a member and pledging to invest, you can do so here.

Energy Garden solar roof on Bedford Cauldwell Train Care Depot

Turning Wilderness into Gardens

As if making all that renewable energy wasn’t enough, Energy Garden bring vital greenery to London. Revenues from the sales of their solar energy fund staff who help community groups transform unused urban wildernesses around train stations into gardens. Their mission is to ‘create vibrant and sustainable green spaces that enrich both the environment and the community.’ These gardens enhance soil quality, promote all-important biodiversity and provide beautiful outdoor spaces that everybody can enjoy. Giving urban dwellers access to the natural world is crucial, because when we’re connected to Nature, we care about it and want to protect it. It’s good news for communities, wildlife and the future of our planet.

Environmental Education and Youth Training

But that’s not all! Energy Garden also use revenues from their energy sales to fund environmental education programmes. The AQA-certified Energy Garden Youth Training Programme pays 16-18-year-olds the London Living Wage and gives them valuable experience in cooperative business, communications, community development and environmental technology, with the help and mentorship of industry experts. And their free workshops for schools teach children from primary age right up to A-Levels about solar energy, pollution, biodiversity, gardening and more. Energy Garden do so many brilliant things for people and the planet, which is why we love working with them!