Investing in Carbon Credits

December 17, 2020, by Lisa Saville

We all leave a footprint on the planet, no matter how carefully we tread. Sometimes the only way to make up for this is to pay it back in another way. In 2012 Hot Ink teamed up with the Climate Neutral Group to calculate our own carbon footprint annually. The resulting value of this assessment then gets offset through the purchase of Gold Standard carbon credits. Initially these credits came from the Paradigm Project, a cooking stove initiative in Kenya, but in 2014 we switched to initiatives closer to home. These have included ‘Composting in Cape Town‘ and the ‘Wonderbag Foundation’.

Our latest credits are invested in the Basa Magogo project. ‘Basa Magogo’ means ‘Light it up! Grandmother’ in Zulu. The technique was named after Granny Nebelungu Mashinini, a community member from eMbalenhle near Secunda. She was the one who perfected the method when the Nova Institute introduced and tested the technique in communities in 2004.

We try to source sustainable substrates for printing on, we aim to reduce plastic as far as possible in our packaging and to recycle wherever we can. For all the things we cannot avoid during the running of our business: electricity use, transportation to and from the workplace etc, we are offsetting through investments in sustainable projects that are reducing the carbon footprint left behind on our planet – and you can too.

For now offsetting is still optional – a ‘moral choice’ perhaps.  The Carbon Tax Act 15 of 2019 introduced the concept of “carbon offset allowances” as an incentive to minimise carbon tax liability in South Africa. In the future it may become a necessity for certain industries. There are already a number of entities in South Africa that can assist you if you are looking to offset. Do a little research and you’ll find one that works for you.

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