Nigel Kelley, Andrew Pepar and John Dickinson’s shared concern for the environment, and their no-nonsense, can-do attitude, has banded them together to create the web platform Co2efficient, where people can quickly and easily calculate their carbon footprint and
offset this via certified carbon reduction projects. Co-founder John Dickinson tells us more about the platform.
What inspired the idea?
Our modern lifestyles are having a negative effect on the environment, with over 51 billion tonnes of carbon released into the atmosphere every year. The Earth isn’t going to cope with this if it continues. The three of us simply decided we’d talked about the problem long enough. It was time instead for us to be proactive, to approach the issue from a practical standpoint and find practical solutions.
How did you progress from having that determination to actually creating your web platform?
The usual as per all start-ups…huge amounts of seemingly thankless hard work and frequent moments of questioning what on earth were we doing?! It’s important to bear in mind too, Co2efficient is not what we do for a living. We are self-funded, as well as a not-for-profit registered charity. So, the focus is on doing something good, not making money. What’s more, there are all sorts of things people can do to reduce carbon emissions, installing solar, buying an EV, using public transport. But this is only a part of the solution. Energy use and transport account for up to 70% of personal emissions, and for the most part they’re unavoidable. It’s these emissions that we want to empower people to do something about. The Co2efficient web platform is tailored specifically to tackling this challenge.
How exactly does Co2efficient work?
By going to the website, www.co2efficient.com.au, you can calculate your carbon footprint in under two minutes. We went to great lengths to ensure the calculation could be made quickly and precisely. Then, having your exact carbon footprint calculated, which is great (and very sobering) knowledge to have, if you wish to offset this, you can determine the exact cost of carbon credits to do so, and purchase these via the Australian Approved Carbon Reduction Projects. To date, for the most part, offsetting emissions via Certified Carbon Credits has been reserved for corporations, however our goal was to bring this ability to all people so they could take meaningful action for the environment. When using our platform, people are pleasantly surprised with what we have created and how easy and inexpensive it is to do the right thing.
How can Tawny Frogmouth readers invest towards your success and stay up to date with your venture?
We want people to invest in their own future by acting on climate change. If you’re reading this right now, go to our website, calculate your carbon footprint and assess the costs to offset your emissions fully or partially. If you’re not ready to purchase your offset credits, it’d still be greatly appreciated if you sign up, and we can keep you informed of where the money is going, and the positive impact it’s having.
Looking to the future, we would love to promote Co2efficient to the whole country. We are currently looking for backing so we can make this happen. So, if you’re that person we would love to hear from you! Email: john@co2efficient.com.au