BE NET ZERO

Be Net Zero

. . at Zero Cost, in Zero Time, with Max Fun!

People can do what governments and companies can’t – reduce the world’s (not just their own) CO2 emissions dramatically! We can do it at Zero Cost, in Zero Time (almost), and have huge amounts of fun! It’s a proven fact.

To us, a person is “Net Zero” if they offset their own CO2 emissions as well as their share of the planet’s total CO2 emissions.

People have written books all about CO2 emissions, how much we produce, how to measure them, reduce them, and so on, so let’s keep it super simple.

The World Bank (an independent source) publishes official data showing that every person’s ‘average share’ of total Carbon Dioxide emissions on the planet is 4,500 kgs or 9,921 lbs, ‘every year’. Let’s be clear, this isn’t just their personal CO2 emissions, it’s each person’s share of the total CO2 produced by themselves and every industry, car, coal mine, plane journey, animal, everything on the planet!

The World Bank data shows countries have wildly different levels of emissions, but let’s at least start with our ‘global average share’ as ‘global citizens’, so we can each say, ‘I’m doing my fair share globally’.

We can’t personally reduce emissions for a coal mine or cement factory, so we must offset our share of other peoples’ CO2 pollution. It sounds incredibly unfair, BUT if we can do it at Zero Cost, then why not?

There are all sorts of ways of offsetting CO2 emissions and one of the most well-known, well studied, and accepted, is planting trees.

Trees recycle Carbon Dioxide. They do it by absorbing CO2 through their leaves and use photosynthesis to release the ‘O’ or Oxygen back into the air and retain the ‘C’ or Carbon in their tree trunks, branches, and roots. Trees ‘eat’ Carbon Dioxide and about 50% of a tree is pure Carbon!

Forest trees eat or absorb 22kgs of Carbon Dioxide a year on average. So, for each of us to recycle our share of global emissions we must plant 230 trees – that’s 22kgs x 230 trees = 5,060 kgs of CO2 recycled. Remember now, a tree continues to absorb 22 kgs a year for its 80 or so years of life, so we only need to plant our 230 trees once!

Trees cost money, take time to plant and must, of course, be cared for over their average 80 years of life. So just how do we plant 230 trees and look after them all at Zero Cost for 80 years?

One answer lies in a most unexpected place, with The Financial Planning Association of Australia, The FPAA, a group of accountants.

In a recent survey of Australians, the FPAA unearthed three fascinating facts: -

- First, while 100% of Australians love giving gifts, 85% of them prefer giving gifts to receiving them! Giving it seems is more fun than getting!

- Second, Aussies spend an average of $1,200 dollars a year on gifts for birthdays, Christmas, Easter, Mothers and Dad days, Valentines, weddings and so on. That’s $100 a month, each!

- Third, most Aussies don’t budget for giving gifts, it’s just something do and love doing!

We’ve found these results are true of most developed countries.

So, if you are going to spend over $1,000 a year or thereabouts giving gifts, why not give gifts which also plant trees at no extra cost?

Bands of Courage is an option, every piece of jewelry plants 10 trees. With pieces starting at $25 each, your $1,200 buys up to 48 gifts and plants 480 trees to recycle 10,560 kgs of CO2 every year, for your lifetime! That’s twice the amount of CO2 recycled to become Net Zero. In fact, you can become Net Zero in less than 6 months! No time at all in the scheme of things, Zero Time!

Most people lucky enough to live in the developed world prefer to give gifts than to receive them. So, why not give the added gift of making people Net Zero? It’s more fun, it’s a story to be proud of and it’s also a gift to Mother Nature – two gifts for the price of one!

Every piece of jewelry designed by Bands of Courage is inspired by an endangered animal or landscape; it comes in its own drawstring pouch with a story card telling you about your endangered animal or landscape. There is also a planting certificate telling you about your tress and the amount of CO2 you are recycling.

Plant a Tree