Ekos Lowers the Bar to Carbon Neutrality

Ekos Lowers the Bar to Carbon Neutrality
2017 could become the year when carbon neutrality starts to become the new normal. But many New Zealand businesses have disregarded carbon neutrality as an expensive voluntary activity where costs outweigh the benefits. In response, a new social enterprise – Ekos – has developed a low cost carbon neutrality service.
Ekos Executive Director Dr Sean Weaver said that only a small minority of business will go carbon neutral while costs remain high.
“But we want to make carbon neutrality accessible to all businesses so that we can get to a low carbon economy. This is why we have developed a low cost system compliant with and certified to international carbon standards,” he said.
“Our approach is to provide a middle path between a rigid system with heavy compliance costs, and a flimsy system with no certification or transparency, Dr Weaver said.
Ekos won a Sustainable Business Network award for its innovative system designed to enable small and medium sized businesses go carbon neutral without breaking the bank.
Last year Ekos helped a one-person start-up business go carbon neutral for just $63 per year. This was after the same business had received quotes for thousands of dollars from other carbon service providers. A small consulting firm went carbon neutral with Ekos for $483. Another business with about 10 staff and 200 domestic flights a year went carbon neutral with Ekos for $1,117 per year.
“The issue is a low carbon economy and how we get there. The private sector can play a strong leadership role but only when the price is not prohibitive. We built Ekos to make this sustainability leadership much easier,” Weaver said.
“Our purpose is to maximise the beneficial environmental impact of every customer dollar spent whilst maintaining scientific rigour. This is why and how we can deliver this high quality yet low cost carbon neutrality system,” he said.
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