Greenr

It’s no secret that there’s a climate crisis out there. Our founders come from different backgrounds but all wanted to build a tool to help their friends and family find ways to take action against climate change. We have so many questions and so few answers, which one of your monthly activities contributes most to your carbon footprint? How can you reduce it? How much worse is flying than taking the train to Paris? In fact, 76% of people in the UK are worried about the climate crisis, yet less than 2% of them know what their footprint is… including us a year ago. So that’s how Greenr was born. As an app to help you on your sustainable and net zero carbon journey. The UK has pledged to be net zero by 2050 but what about you? Can we do it quicker on an individual level? 

We know warmer summers and slightly milder temperatures may not sound that bad but really it really puts a spanner in the works. Warmer climates in some areas means the whole climate cycle gets out of whack. Oceans evaporate quicker which causes more rainfall which can result in extreme weather events like floods, landslides, snowstorms etc. Warmer climates also mean more heatwaves which can overpower the human body. All in all, it’s not great news and that’s why we should all try to stop it from happening.

1. If you drive to work in a normal car you are burning fossil fuel to power the engine. The exhaust gas coming for your car has CO₂ in it (and other GHGs) which go straight into the atmosphere. 
2. The burger meat in your beef burger had to come from a cow which had to be raised on a field for a couple of years, fed some grain and given some water. The cow had to convert food into muscle to grow and also emitted some GHGs such as methane. The water and grain it used it also accounted for in the carbon footprint using “equivalence”
3. The electricity you use in your home will have been generated using different methods. Some methods are green such as solar and wind and therefore don’t have much carbon footprint. But other methods use fossil fuels such as coal, gas and oil which, like your car, emit CO₂ and other gasses when they are burnt to generate electricity.

Greenr at its core is an information giver. We know everyone is smart and can make educated choices if only they are given the right information. From personal experience we know how hard it is to calculate the footprint of a certain meal vs another or calculate the carbon footprint difference between two modes of transport. That’s why our calculator is the most accurate one on the market. And it’s free! 

We are focusing our calculator on the travel and diet part of your lives because we feel those are changes and decisions, we can make every day. We know it can be hard to force your landlord to put double glazed windows or get your parents to insulate the loft… so instead we are allowing you to make your climate action about what you eat and how you get around.

• Eat vegetarian food one day a week?
• Walk to a meeting?
• Swap your long-haul business flight to economy?

All are wins in our eyes. At Greenr we believe there isn’t a right or wrong way to live, but there is a Greenr way. We’re not about making anyone feel guilty, instead we want to reward every small positive change you make. We’ll even set challenges for you to push yourself.

The Calculator is the heart of Greenr. We are aiming to bridge the gap between scientists fighting climate change in the lab, and everyone else trying to do their bit individually, at work and at home. We are using a vast range of academic studies and governmental databases in order to be the first carbon tracking app to allow app users to track their daily meals. By this we mean that you can record actual ingredients on a day-to-day basis not just approximate dietary habits. This allows users to experience a fun and informative way of tracking their daily activity, with instant feedback on the impact of decisions and activity. 

As with every scientific calculation some assumptions are made. This is why the carbon footprint value you can see on your dashboard is an approximation.

We’ve covered how most of the activities in our daily lives contribute to adding carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses to the atmosphere. But is there a way to take them back out? There is! You can do that through buying certificates from certified carbon offset projects. Greenr selects projects that are accredited by Gold Standard or Verra. These charities have been around for decades and can guarantee that the projects that receive their certification avoid carbon dioxide from being added to our atmosphere. Here are a few examples of projects that Greenr supports:

1. Forest conservation in Papua New Guinea: Trees are a great carbon sink. They need carbon for photosynthesis (GCSE biology here we go) and convert it into oxygen. However, if you cut down the tree and burn it you release all that carbon which is stored in the bark, back into the atmosphere! So, a forest conservation project is a great option. Trees that otherwise would have been cut down are saved due to carbon offset revenues. Farmers receive money and can afford to keep the forest on their land without cutting them down. Plus, it looks so lush doesn’t it?
2. Renewable energy projects: Generating electricity using renewable methods (i.e., energy that is not depletable) such as wind, solar and hydropower is a great way to remove potential carbon from the atmosphere. The revenue generated from carbon offsets allows small wind farms to be built. Such a wind farm will generate electricity for a neighbouring town which otherwise would have received electricity generated by burning natural gas or coal. This is an example of a carbon offset project which avoids future carbon from entering our atmosphere. 

The good news is if you support carbon offset projects for the amount of carbon you are responsible for then you will become carbon neutral! 🎉

In theory you can offset your yearly carbon footprint and be carbon neutral, however we don’t believe that is the most sustainable way of doing things. If everyone continued to live an unsustainable lifestyle and just offset all their emissions, we would soon run out of carbon offset projects. Instead, it is best to find ways to easily cut down your carbon by swapping your diet and travel habits to less carbon intensive ones and then offset what’s left over!

We work closely with different carbon offset accreditors such as Gold Standard and Verra. Both of them manage best practice standards for climate and sustainable development interventions to maximise the beneficial impact of each tonne of CO2 offset. Every project goes through rigorous scrutiny before being approved. In short, each project needs to be:

• Additional: it would not have happened without the support from carbon offsets.
• Contained: it won’t cause emissions to increase in another area.
• Permanent: it is protected against destruction by human or natural causes
• Sustainable: more than reducing carbon it also has a positive impact on communities.
• Verified: it is routinely inspected and verified by an independent third party
• Unique: each project has a unique ID on a public ledger and can only be counted once

Greenr only purchases verified projects, which means you will always be able to follow the trace of your own certificate to the credits that Greenr has bought which in turn will be listed on a public ledger. On top of that we will publish quarterly updates of each project so that you can see exactly what impact your support has had.

We’ve discussed our opinions on tree planting project, but how do we pick the rest? We only fund carbon offset projects which meet the highest verification standards, such as Gold Standard or Verified Carbon Standard. But we are lucky enough to have a vast choice amongst those projects! So on top of accreditation, we look for diverse projects which may align with all of your passions. Don’t hesitate to drop us an email if you would like to see a project in particular. On top of that we look for projects which meet other important sustainability and development standards and contribute positive impacts to the local communities. These are well represented by the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). In the app you will be able to see tags near each project. These represent the SDGs that either Gold Standard or Verra have identified the project as meeting. Pretty cool stuff ☺