10 facts about SKOOT Eco and the race to net-zero

This blog explores 10 facts you may or may not already know about SKOOT Eco.
Written by
June 12, 2024
5 min read

1. We’re a b2b platform helping businesses race to net-zero 

As a climate change platform, we aim to help reverse the effects of global climate change by helping people take more responsibility for their carbon footprint. 

We have a particular focus and solutions across multiple verticals, including restaurants and the hospitality sector, 


What is net-zero? 

Put simply, net-zero refers to the balance between the amount of greenhouse gas emissions produced and the amount removed from the atmosphere. 

In order to achieve net zero, the amount of greenhouse gas emissions released into the atmosphere must be equal to the amount that is absorbed or offset. This can be achieved through a variety of methods such as reducing emissions or removing and capturing carbon already in the atmosphere.  

It is necessary to reach net zero to reduce climate change, climate change has been exacerbated by the loss of 10 billion trees every year which equates to 59 million tonnes of carbon that is no longer being removed from the atmosphere. 

 

2. SKOOT is a top 5%  B-Corp

SKOOT is an award-winning B Corp that helps businesses, individuals, and communities to offset their carbon footprint. 

A B-Corp, or Benefit Corporation, is a type of for-profit company that places social and environmental objectives at the centre of its business model. 

Unlike traditional corporations that prioritize maximizing profits for shareholders, B Corps are legally required to consider the impact of their decisions on all stakeholders, including workers, customers, communities, and the environment.


3. Supporting sustainable projects

SKOOT funds sustainable projects such as hydro, solar, and wind farms and tree-planting in Kenya and Brazil.

Some of the projects that are supported by SKOOT include the Green Infra Wind Project in Gujarat, India, the Buenos Aires renewable energy project, the Solar Power project in Rajasthan and many more. 

The SKOOT growing community support more and more climate projects aiming to help alleviate the climate crisis. 

Discover the projects we're supporting.

Cambodia national bio-digester programme, supported by SKOOT.


4. Restores devastated areas with forests and trees protected in perpetuity   

An area the size of Portugal is lost every year to deforestation, and to ensure the reforested projects are long-term projects the trees SKOOT plants are protected in perpetuity through government initiatives and are planted in collaboration with Eden Reforestation Projects.

Eden is one of the most trusted NGOs when it comes to reforestation, and SKOOT’s choice to pick Eden came from considerable research as we wanted to ensure we were regenerating both the land and the community in our tree planting process. 

One of the designated sites where we plant our mangrove trees is in Tudor Creek located in Kenya, it is a 2216-hectare reforestation site. The trees planted at our site are Mangrove trees which are incredible at storing and capturing carbon, in its first year of life a single mangrove tree will remove approximately 5.9 kg of carbon and over 750kg in its lifetime. Globally mangroves are estimated to store over 6.4 billion tonnes of carbon in their soil which makes them highly effective at reducing climate change.

‍Additionally, in order to protect the forests, forest guards are also employed as a part of the labour force, and for every 1 tree planted 1% of the price of each tree is paid into the ‘Forest Guard Endowment Fund’ for the long term security and protection of every Eden site. 


5. SKOOT supports some of the poorest nations in the world. 

Eden provides economic incentives and simple planting techniques to support local communities in restoring their local environment and economy. They employ local people with a fair and constant wage which provides the employees with an economic incentive to ensure the wellbeing of the reforestation project. Every 1000 trees planted on our site equates to 10 days of employment for the locals. 

6. Hospitality accounts for 20% of carbon emissions

One of the reasons for focusing on the restaurant and hospitality space is because carbon emissions account for ⅕ of all carbon emissions (transport is only 25%).

Given that in the UK the average person eats out 1.5 times a week and every time you eat out that's roughly an additional 8kg of carbon over and above what you would do at home, we felt we needed to create an affordable and in-the-moment solution.

This enables us to plant trees every meal and every dinner with our SKOOT Eco Dining solution, with the trees sequestering enough carbon over 1-2 years for the average meal.

Diners at participating restaurants can opt to pay a small charge on their bill to plant a tree. Here’s a video that helps explain it in a little more detail.


7. Watch your forest grow with SKOOT

We believe transparency is key to countering the claims of greenwashing and therefore each restaurant has a QR code or UR on the bill that allows diners to visit the digital forest of the restaurant and learn more about SKOOT.

Diners can scan the QR code on their phone and visit their digital forest allowing them to see the number of trees they have planted, and by adding their email they can watch the progress of their tree as it develops. 

 

8.   Education around everyday activities - Small changes. Big impact

Although understanding the macro impact of our behaviours and how they impact the climate and how we need to keep below 1.5c temperature change. The reality is, it's difficult to comprehend how an individual might be able to influence or control the global temperature. 

Therefore at SKOOT, we focus on the micro-changes we can all make to help educate people about the positive impact that they could have.

The average carbon footprint per person is about 750kg CO2 per person, per month. That's 9 tonnes every year! That's enough CO2 gas to fill a large concrete mixer truck.

Via our website, our blogs and our Instagram page SKOOT intends to educate everyone as simply as possible so they can be aware of their actions and make the necessary changes.  

As a starter visit our recent blog on the carbon footprint of everyday things

9. SKOOT is award-winning and trusted 

We’re proud that as a platform we have received multiple awards and are looking to integrate with more organisations to spread our message.

SKOOT was a finalist for Sustainable Business of the year in the 2022 Business Champion awards and was awarded “Best for the world” 2022 B corp for exceptional positive impact and governance. SKOOT hopes to work with more organisations as it develops to spread its message to as many people as possible. 


10. We help businesses and individuals race to net-zero

Although we really focus on helping businesses, we also have a number of solutions to help individuals counter their carbon footprint.

Create a free account and check out Impact Shop and SKOOT Life subscriptions.

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Written by
June 12, 2024
5 min read