Mythbusting with the Carbon Reduction Label

Rows of flowers at a flower farm

Flower Power

Footprinting a brand usually reveals surprising details about the most carbon intense moments in a product’s journey.

For instance, did you know that flowers grown in Kenya can have a lower carbon footprint than flowers grown in Europe? That’s because in our cooler climate we generally need to grow flowers in greenhouses under artificial conditions. 

Flowers imported from Kenya are mostly grown outdoors all year round. Because they require no heating or lighting, no fossil fuels are burned. Even though the flowers are flown from Kenya to Britain to be sold, the emissions saved from the growing phase more than compensate for the CO2 from aviation.

That’s not to say we shouldn’t buy British flowers. Flowers could be grown in Europe with a much lower carbon footprint by using low carbon energy, such as waste heat from industrial processes, or renewable energy technology. Flowers grown in season in Britain will also have a lower carbon footprint than those cultivated out of season.

We know most people don’t have time to research the carbon credentials of everything they buy. That’s why we launched the Carbon Reduction Label. The Label gives you the assurance that the carbon footprint of the products you’re buying have been accurately measured to an agreed, independent standard and a commitment has been made by those brands and companies to reduce their carbon footprint within two years.

Mythbusting foodmiles

Food miles v. carbon footprint

The environmental importance of food miles has been argued about for a few years now, with many experts stating that simply focusing on the distance food travels distracts us from other important factors that can have an impact on the environment. Food miles can be a major factor for some products such as bottled water. But it’s not the case with all products.

Take a bag of crisps for instance. There are lots of transport steps in the life of a bag of crisps including driving the potatoes from farm to factory, bringing in sunflower oil and packaging and then shipping the crisps from the factory to the shops. Even so, transport is only responsible for 10% of the carbon footprint. The other 90% comes from the other stages in the life of the bag of crisps from growing the potatoes and sunflowers, making the packaging, turning all the ingredients into the final product in the factory, selling the crisps in the shops and then disposing of the packaging after we are finished.

So whilst it is valuable to cut the emissions from the transport stages, it is much more important that farmers are working to cut the footprint in growing potatoes and that the factory is as efficient as it can be in turning the potatoes into crisps.

Complexities like these mean consumers are finding it harder than ever to know how to reduce their own carbon footprint. The Carbon Reduction Label is the easiest way to see which products are committed to tackling climate change, without compromising on taste or price.