Lanocare Launches its Environmental Programme by planting 4,000 trees
Few would dispute that changes have to be made to the way we treat the environment in order to provide a future for our children and our children’s children. The World’s resources are running out and its atmosphere changing. We need to do things differently – maintaining the status quo or just following the line of least resistance is now just not an option.
At Lanocare, we have gone to significant effort to make our products fully sustainable and renewable. Yes, it would have been much easier and cheaper to base our products on aromatic-hydrocarbons but that would have just added to the problem – use of fossil fuel based products releases carbon trapped from bye gone times. With Lanocare the reverse is true. It is made from ingredients extracted from crops which actually absorb carbon from the atmosphere as they grow.
So does that mean we can give ourselves a pat on the back and call it a day?
Well, no. Whilst the crops may absorb carbon when growing, carbon will still be produced. The physical process of farming and processing the crops, transporting the ingredients and final manufacture of Lanocare all have a carbon foot print. Without looking at this wider picture, we cannot be considered to be sustainable.
Clearly, many elements within the supply chain are beyond our influence. Sadly we cannot, for example, specify to a farmer what fertilisers to use or to require them to use biodiesel in their equipment. Whilst we are confident that things will change over time, we want to act now so that we can be sure that we are not adding to the environment problems we all face.
As a result, we are working with partners in Malawi and the UK to support a range of projects that will reduce carbon emissions and remove carbon from the atmosphere. The first two projects are:
Tree Planting:
For every order received we will plant at least 4 trees in Malawi. Each tree removes 100kgs of carbon from the atmosphere every 10 years. So each 100 trees planted removes 1 tonne of carbon from the atmosphere year in and year out. The average household in the UK emits 2.7 tonnes of carbon per year and so for every 270 trees planted we remove the yearly carbon output of 1 UK home.
To get the ball rolling, we have just planted the first 4,000 trees. These will remove 40 tonnes of carbon each and every year fully offsetting the emissions of nearly 15 UK households.
Cooking Stoves:
Cooking stoves are a more efficient way of cooking than an open fire. Not only are they much safer to use, cooking stoves require 65% less wood and release 3 tonnes of carbon less a year than an open fire. The reduced fuel consumption also means that they can be fed by just pruning trees rather than felling them. Lanocare is proud to be supporting the supply of these stoves in Malawi. It is a fantastic project and will be the subject of a dedicated post.
The above two projects are just the start and we look forward to sharing more details in the coming months