Do you score zero? Toshiba’s new carbon zero program is helping schools to reduce their emissions footprint and make a local impact.
In schools, pupils are usually striving to get as high a grade as possible. But when it comes to the environment, they’re all aiming to get a big fat ZERO - zero carbon footprint that is. Students tend to be even more passionate about the environment than their teachers, parents and carers, and are keen to see their schools, homes and communities doing everything they can to reduce their contributions to emissions and the global climate crisis. It's a particularly pertinent issue here in Australia, which is one of the top ten highest CO2 emitters per capita in the world.
Getting to zero
One of the ways that schools in Australia can show that they are taking seriously the concerns of our younger generations is to ensure that the devices that they purchase and use are not having a negative impact on our climate and environment. When it comes to printer and multi-function devices (MFDs), Toshiba’s Carbon Zero program can help.
Toshiba’s Carbon Zero program
Toshiba has worked hard to reduce the emissions from its manufacturing processes in producing MFDs, so they are one of the more environmentally responsible devices on the market. However, it’s not possible with current processes and technology to entirely eliminate manufacturing emissions. So in conjunction with emission reduction at source, Toshiba also offers schools the opportunity to offset the remaining emissions at the time of purchase.
Toshiba calculates the emissions produced in manufacturing each device, using the Life Cycle Assessment method (LCA), and then offers schools the option of making a small additional payment towards an offset program and which therefore renders their new device completely carbon neutral.
Toshiba and Greenfleet
The offset program that Toshiba participates in in Australia is run by Greenfleet. Greenfleet know a thing or two about carbon offsetting – they were the first ever provider in Australia. Greenfleet have been contributing to protecting the planet for over quarter of a century, well before the climate crisis reached the level of awareness that we have now.
Greenfleet’s focus is on restoring Australia’s rich heritage of native forests. Greenfleet researches the original forests in each area to ensure that they source and plant only locally native species and that they reproduce the ecosystem that existed in each area. These forests help to absorb CO2 emissions, provide habitat for Australia’s endangered wildlife, retain biodiversity, and provide economic opportunity for indigenous communities.
Your school’s contribution counts
When a school chooses to purchase a Carbon Zero Toshiba MFD, all of their additional payment contributes towards projects such as:
Reforestation – over 25 years Greenfleet has restored 10.5 million native trees and created 550 legally protected native forests. These reforestation projects will remove more than 4.4 million tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere across their lifetime.
South Gippsland, Victoria – through revegetation projects to replace native plants and trees, Greenfleet is removing carbon, reducing erosion and improving the quality of soils and waterways.
Northern Rivers, NSW – planting native trees, which within a few years had become a safe home for communities of koalas, which are endangered in NSW, Queensland and the ACT.
Noosa Hinterland – working with the Kabi Kabi people, Greenfleet restored over 1,100 hectares of land to native forest. The project fostered reconciliation, as well as providing a habitat for endangered koalas and quolls.
Today’s schools understand the importance of managing their environmental footprint, and particularly how their pupils feel about climate change and the future health of the planet. Schools have a wide and imaginative range of programs and initiatives to reduce their carbon footprint. Some of these are global in nature, but for Australian pupils, there’s an immediacy and a greater sense of connection with initiatives that make a visible difference in their own back yard – the forests and habitats of our land.
So for schools that want to make their contribution and make it one that pupils can see, understand and engage with, the Toshiba Carbon Zero program, in conjunction with Greenfleet is the ideal way to make a very local difference.
So when it comes to MFDs, your school can give itself the perfect score – a big, fat, ZERO.
