We are convinced that each and every company must work with the environmental problems we are facing. It is not enough to wait for governments of different countries to take action. Embedded Artists realize that we are part of the problem and have now come to the point that we feel that we must act!
We have together with ZeroMission analyzed the carbon footprint of our organization. We have looked at factors like manufacturing, energy use in our offices, transport of goods, packaging material and business travel. We have also looked into different possibilities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to decrease the effect our company has on the environment. Since it is not possible for us to eliminate all carbon dioxide emissions, we have chosen to plant trees in Malawi. We have chosen the project Trees of Hope in Malawi.
We realize that EA as well as almost all other companies is a part of the problem. We have decided that we also want to be part of the solution. For us it is important to make as much as we can to create a sustainable society. We are convinced that we can do even more and we will try hard to decrease our environmental footprint during the years to come.
We have changed packaging. Our packaging is partially made up of recycled fibers. No chlorine has been used during the manufacturing process. We will continue to look for even better alternatives.
We use wind power as energy to warm up our office. Wind power is renewable and very clean. It produces no greenhouse gas emissions during operation.
We have developed the Oryx board to give our customers a reference design for extreme power-saving, mobile applications.
We try to reduce the amount of shipments from our suppliers.
We recycle our waste. We also offer to recycle products purchased from us.
EA comply with the RoHS directive to ensure that poisonous substances are not used in production of our products.
Every year in June we will send a report to a leading carbon management consultancy called ZeroMission who will verify the calculations and resulting carbon footprint.
We have planted about 4250 trees to compensate for 527 tons of CO2e.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is produced e.g. when organic matter and fossil fuels are combusted/decomposed whereby two oxygen atoms combine with a carbon atom to form a CO2 molecule. It is released into the atmosphere and becomes part of the so-called carbon cycle by which carbon is exchanged among the biosphere, atmosphere and the ocean. Man made or "anthropogenic" emissions of carbon dioxide alter the carbon cycle and increase the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere, which leads to climate change/global warming. Trees have the ability to absorb CO2 from the atmosphere as they grow and thereby mitigate the effects of climate change.
Tree planting and avoided deforestation are two of the most cost-effective methods available for carbon offsetting. As trees grow up, they bind carbon which is taken from the atmosphere. There are several aspects that are important when you choose a carbon offsetting project. We had three conditions:
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Additionality: For us it was important to know that the tree planting hadn’t taken place without our offsetting initiative. This would have been the case if we planted trees in Sweden where there is law to replant after harvesting. Plan Vivo projects are highly additional, new farmers are recruited to plant trees only as customers buy carbon offsetting.
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Permanency: Each tree has a limited life span. When a tree is cut down and used for e.g. timber and fuel wood, replanting must be done in order for the positive climate effect to be permanent. In Plan Vivo projects there are several mechanisms in place to ensure replanting and permanency of the carbon sequestration. These are e.g. education, monitoring, third party verifications, buffers and tailor made payment structures.
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Sustainable development: There are several ways to plant trees. You can buy a piece of land, put a fence around it and plant fast growing species that sequester a lot of carbon in a short time. That is referred to as “land grabbing” and is socially and environmentally devastating. We have chosen a Plan Vivo project since they all work with a bottom-up approach. Farmers and communities participate already in the project design process. Participation is voluntary and the farmers plant the trees on their own piece of land, The trees are primarily a wide range of local species, often planted in so-called agroforestry systems where crops are produced in the shade of the trees. On top of producing timber, fuel wood and fruit, the trees deliver a long range of ecosystem services such as flood and erosion control, shade, climate regulation and biodiversity.
Embedded Artists has chosen to take the cost for carbon offsets from our profit. We have not increased the prices on our products.
In Malawi which is located in the south east part of Africa. The Trees of Hope reforestation project in the Dowa and Neno Districts is working to make tree farming attractive and profitable for smallholder farmers and to generate the important secondary benefit of reversing deforestation in Malawi. More than 2,000 smallholder farmers have already planted more than 2 million hardwood, mango, and citrus trees, sequestering 248,000 tons of carbon dioxide.
More information about the Trees of Hope project is found at: Clinton Foundation
We buy our carbon offsets through ZeroMission, a leading carbon management consultancy and the largest reseller of Plan Vivo-certificates in the world.
