Caring for this generation, protecting the next
We work hard to reduce our impact on the environment and hope to inspire others to follow our lead.
We are in a climate emergency. The effects are already obvious, and it’s speeding up. We all need to be doing everything we can to care for the planet, to avoid or reduce the impact it will have on us and our children.
And yet in the homecare sector there is a collective silence on the biggest threat we as a society face. Seriously – Google “homecare carbon emissions” and you’ll see that we are the only organisation that has even attempted to measure the carbon footprint of the homecare sector, let alone talk about our carbon footprint and what we’re doing about it.
Our Carbon Offsetting Process
Measurement
Harnessing our technology, we accurately calculate our travel and related emissions.
Verification
An independent, certified consultancy verify our calculations are robust.
Reduction
We reduce our emissions where we can, through efficiencies and energy saving.
Offsetting
What we can’t cut, we offset with a mix of local tree planting and investment in green projects.Caring for people and planet
We started measuring, reducing and offsetting our carbon back when we only had four offices. Now, with over 20 quality homecare providers across the country, we are delighted to centrally measure, reduce and offset our entire network’s carbon emissions, at no additional cost to our franchise partners. GoodOaks only works with projects that meet the Quality Assurance Standard for Carbon Offsetting and BSI’s PAS 2060 specification on carbon neutrality, our mix of local tree planting and investment in green projects around the world.
Going further
We know offsetting is not enough. We want to do more, and to help our franchise partners do more too. We are starting with installation of electric charging points at our Bournemouth and Poole office, and trialling the use of Citroen Ami, a ‘100% urban mobility solution’ to help our care professionals take their petrol and diesel engined vehicles off the road all year round.
We hope to use our learnings and growing bulk purchasing power to empower our network to go further and faster when it comes to decarbonising homecare.
“I chose GoodOaks over other franchises because I stand by the same values. When it comes to care for other people, I know that an organisation’s core values matter a lot because they lay the foundation for what the company cares about most.”
Camelia Gogoasa
Registered Nurse turned Care Entrepreneur
FAQs
Good question – and it’s one not many people have tried to find the answer for.
We’ve gathered data from a range of sources, and we believe the homecare sector emits at least 483,825 tonnes of CO2 every year, broken down as follows:
- Care Professional Travel Emissions: 348,000
- Office Emissions: 128,000
- Care Management Travel Emissions: 7,000
Together, that’s the equivalent of heating 179,000 homes.
Yes.
Here you go. – A google sheet with our rough workings on it.
We’re sharing our calculations to hopefully provide a starting point for a discussion around how we as a sector can do our bit in the existential fight of our generation. If you spot any errors, or have suggestions on how we can better calculate the true carbon footprint, please do get in touch and let us know.
The care sector is reliant on care professionals using their cars, the vast majority of which are older than the UK average, and powered by the internal combustion engine. Most care is provided in urban or suburban settings, often around rush hour. Think traffic jams, start-stop, short journeys and cold, inefficient engines not getting up to full efficiency.
Our data suggests clients are an average of 4 miles apart, and in the UK the average car emits 221.4g/mi. Although there’s no public data available, we believe there is more than 354 million care visits undertaken per year in the UK. That’s a lot of grams of carbon.
If everyone took steps and made small changes to their lifestyle, it would dramatically impact and help to reduce our individual carbon footprint. You could:
- Try and be more energy efficient at home with appliances and bulbs
- Turn off the lights, natural lights is better where possible
- Improve insulation to reduce heating needs
- Drive less – walk, use a bike, scoot or car pool
- Recycle and choose eco friendly products around the home and beyond
- Support policies that promote sustainability and encourage this in your local communities