The difference between carbon neutral and carbon negative lies in the overall impact on carbon levels. Carbon neutral aims to keep carbon balanced by neither adding to carbon levels in the atmosphere nor taking away carbon from the atmosphere. As for carbon negative, this accreditation is deserving of projects aiming to remove more CO2 from the atmosphere than produced and to make it even more confusing, this term means the same as ‘climate positive’.
More and more brands are pledging to offset, capture or reduce their carbon emissions. Here are some of the brands leading the way with their carbon-cutting efforts.
If you’re interested in carbon-negative energy drinks, then Tenzing is your new ride or die. Tenzing is on a mission to provide naturally-sourced energy drinks. As the world’s first carbon negative energy drink, Tenzing has rethought its whole business model to become carbon negative, coupling carbon-reduction activities with offsetting projects such as tree planting in Nicaragua and mangrove planting in Madagascar. Tenzing is encouraging others to follow suit, providing subscribers with the means to reduce their carbon emissions, offsetting 8.4tn of CO2 per year for each subscriber as well as providing an easy-to-use carbon footprint calculator.
Neighbourhood Botanicals have taken major steps to become carbon negative. Their green beauty initiatives involve recyclable and reusable packaging plus a refill scheme. Neighbourhood Botanicals offset 2x the amount of carbon they emit from their whole supply chain, going above and beyond just the emissions created from their own business facilities and manufacturing. Their offsetting initiatives help to support the Huoshui Hydropower Project in China which supplies renewable energy to rural Southwest and South Central China.
Get your morning-energy boost the sustainable way with Perfect Ted. Taking sustainability and transparency to the heart of their business, Perfect Ted has embarked on the road to becoming carbon neutral. Already a member of 1% For The Planet, they’re developing an action plan to offset the emissions produced via tree-planting programmes to place plant-powered good-for-you matcha sustainably into your kitchen cupboard.
Made For Drinks have created high-quality snacks inspired by drinking cultures around the world. Not only are they supplying the perfect companion for your beer, but they’re also embarking on a mission to understand the levels of carbon they emit and how to mitigate these emissions. Establishing the Exmoor Carbon Project LTD, Made For Drinks have set off on a journey to restore areas of ancient woodland along the North Devon coast to sequester carbon, provide rural employment and boost biodiversity.
Combining health and sustainability, OFF BLAK create healthy teas to level up your morning, and with their carbon negative initiatives, also level up your progress towards sustainability. By offsetting 10% more emissions than they produce, OFF BLAK have claimed the status of carbon-negative (verified by the Gold Standard and VERRA) by investing in 3 carbon offsetting projects. Their offsetting projects include renewable energy projects in India and Mongolia and a forestry conservation project in Peru.
