Calculate your personal carbon footprint with help from the WWF
Over 300 pledges to take one action to reduce their personal carbon footprint were made by employees at Reckitt’s Hull Campus recently, as part of its Environmental, Health and Safety Week.
Alongside Oh Yes! Net Zero, organisations taking part in the week included conservation charity World Wildlife Fund (WWF), which has launched an app that helps individuals to cut their carbon emissions through challenges that involve making small changes in their lives.
Reckitt is a founding partner of Oh Yes! Net Zero and the manufacturer of global health, hygiene and nutrition brands including Lemsip and Dettol. In 2021 it began a three-year partnership with WWF focused on sustainable innovation, engaging customers, staff and partners with nature conservation and funding conservation projects.
During the week, the WWF team invited Reckitt employees to download its ‘My Footprint’ app, which, based on their answers to a short questionnaire, gives users practical advice on introducing positive changes to their life through a variety of challenges they can take part in and track.
From cutting down plastic consumption to cooking a meal with only fresh ingredients, each challenge provides a new opportunity to do something good for the planet.
Meanwhile, at the Oh Yes! Net Zero stand, employees were encouraged to pledge to make a single change, whether at home or in the workplace, that would reduce their personal carbon footprint. Throughout the week more than 300 pledges were made, with people committing to actions including switching off lights and sending e-mails with a link instead of an attachment.
Oh Yes! Net Zero engagement manager Melissa Rackham, who is also a Reckitt employee, said: “A number of colleagues I spoke to were already taking steps to cut their carbon footprints, such as walking or cycling to work and increasing the recycling they do at home, but many were keen to learn what else they could do.
"It was great to see how engaged my colleagues were in the conservation work the WWF is doing as part of its partnership with Reckitt – and how motivated many of them were to understand their personal impact on the environment, through the choices they make every day about how they travel and the food they eat.
“I often hear Oh Yes! Net Zero members advising other organisations that the first step in reducing their carbon emissions is to measure them, so they can understand where best to focus their efforts for the greatest impact.
“The same applies to individuals, and the WWF’s My Footprint app is a fantastic place to start.”
Visit the WWF website for a wealth of advice and practical tips for individuals and businesses who want to play their part in tackling climate change and protecting the environment.