LED Replacement Strategy – Carbon Offsetting
We implemented a unique carbon offsetting initiative whilst working on National Highway’s LED Replacement Strategy, which offset 80% of the carbon emissions of each individual lantern replaced by planting trees.
During the first phase of this project, we replaced 698 lanterns over 14 schemes, and using data supplied by the lantern manufacturers, we calculated the amount of carbon used in the manufacture of the new lanterns and how much they would produce in their first year of operation. We then calculated the carbon emissions for MSF’s activities to complete the replacements. The combined total for these schemes was 70.1 tonnes of CO2.
We then worked with Tree Nation, a carbon offsetting provider, to plant trees in forests in Madagascar and Tanzania. The location of these forests is no accident – the metals used in LED lanterns are found in both of these countries, where mining activities have contributed to mass deforestation in recent years. In a bid to give something back to the communities affected by mining and deforestation, we planted 1000 trees in Madagascar, and 305 trees in Tanzania, successfully offsetting 62.5 tonnes of CO2.
