Just Good Business buzz: Coffee? Carbon-free?

Hutt Valley business Celcius Coffee has become the first coffee roaster in the country to be certified under the carboNZero programme’s small enterprise certification scheme.
This means the company has measured and reduced its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and then offset the remaining unavoidable emissions by purchasing verified carbon credits from credible New Zealand projects.
It is, says owner Stephanie Fry, “the icing on the cake for our business”. Celsius has already earned industry awards, roasts 100 percent organic, certified Fairtrade coffee and is member of the Sustainable Business Network, says Fry.
“This completes our story because it shows how seriously we view environmental issues like GHG emissions, climate change and sustainability.”
Celcius Coffee’s main source of emissions comes from the use of vehicles. The company has reduced this by purchasing smaller more economic vehicle and may again reduce its car size and report and monitor its petrol consumption in order to identify areas for even further reductions and savings. Other emissions for Celcius Coffee included freight (16 percent), LPG (six percent and electricity (12 percent).
In total, Celcius Coffee offset 16 tonnes of CO2 through carbon credits from the TrustPower Tararua II PRE (Projects to Reduce Emissions) wind power project.