We Calculate Our Carbon Footprint
The carbon footprint represents the total volume of greenhouse gases (GHGs) produced, directly or indirectly, by people, organisations, products or events, and is measured in CO2 equivalents. Calculating it allows us to set a course for the future towards mitigating these emissions, improving results through more efficient use of resources and offsetting them with new actions.
At Casa Amella, we understand that climate change is the greatest threat to harvests, biodiversity, our planet and life itself.
We have embedded values of commitment throughout the entire food chain, from the producer to the product, society, the environment and the planet, which is why we understood we had to go a step further and calculate our own carbon footprint. Although it is thankfully low, there are always ways to improve, reduce it, offset it and achieve the lowest possible impact.
The largest source of our emissions comes from indirect emissions, scope 3, which includes packaging, transport, distribution, raw materials and more. These emissions account for 85% of the total, at 266 tonnes CO2e. Glass packaging, being heavier than plastic, increases these figures, but this can't be taken as a point in favour of plastic, since it's a real and serious problem in terms of its management and pollution. In fact, more plastic has been produced in the last ten years than in the whole of human history. In 2015, production reached 380 million tonnes. 500 billion plastic bottles are produced every year, and in Spain 50% of packaging ends up in landfill (see the shocking figures from Greenpeace).
Our approach has always been to avoid the indiscriminate use of plastic and to choose quality materials made by local suppliers: recycled cardboard boxes, FSC paper labels, biodegradable point-of-sale packaging and glass containers, since glass is a safe material that can be recycled endlessly and reused. For this reason, switching to plastic to reduce our carbon footprint would only be a patch on a growing problem. We understand that the solution is to offset these emissions through actions that give us the potential to create a positive impact and get closer to ZERO emissions every day.
At Casa Amella, we've set 2022 as our reference year, and our short- and medium-term goals are:
In addition, our range of organic soups made with fresh vegetables, neither frozen nor dehydrated, 100% local and 100% plant-based, plays an important role in achieving our goals. Every Casa Amella Organic vegetable soup has a very low carbon footprint. Unlike our competitors, at Casa Amella we can assure you that we avoid fugitive emissions from freezer storage of raw materials or long-distance transport for imported vegetables, which generate large amounts of CO2.
As a company, we want to be transparent about our impacts and our efforts to offset them, to avoid falling into simplistic, quick 'net zero' claims without having first tried to reduce our own emissions, always within the possibilities of each organisation. We encourage you to join us in conscious consumption, where every purchasing choice has a direct impact on our environment and future. We should also mention the importance of decisions made in global politics: we advocate for the promotion of decarbonisation and the implementation of 100% green energy, and for adopting regenerative and organic farming practices that restore and maintain soil health and capture carbon.
There are always improvements to be made in a company, and we're aware that to reduce our carbon footprint further, we first had to measure it. Thanks to the green vouchers from ACCIÓ and our advisor Anna Badia
we've been able to find out what it is, understand where we stand, and take real measures and actions to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and take care of the planet.
Find out more about what we're doing to reduce emissions and meet the 2030 SDGs at this link.
With the support of ACCIÓ.
