What does carbon neutral mean?

Being carbon neutral means that the negative impact our person to person sending has on the environment has been offset with the same amount of positive impact, to become neutral.

Person to person sending is now carbon neutral

First, we calculate all the carbon emissions (the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere) that your letter or parcel packaging produces through its entire lifecycle. We've covered the packaging from production through to recycling, processing in our depots and even what happens with the packaging at the end of its life, whether it's recycled or sent to landfill. Next, we pull the operational emissions associated with getting the letter or parcel to your door, including all carbon emissions from the use of Paxsters.

Our calculations are verified every year by Toitū Envirocare. Toitū is our independent partner, who provides guidance on measuring, reducing, offsetting and reporting on emissions that occur as a result of our operations. 

Based on our calculations and guidance from Toitū we then take action to reduce the amount of carbon emitted. You can read all about how we’re reducing our emissions throughout our business.

Finally, we purchase carbon credits to offset the remaining unavoidable emissions - For every tonne of carbon emitted, we purchase one carbon credit.

It doesn’t matter whether you use our packaging or your own to send person to person, it’s still carbon neutral. This year we are offsetting approximately 17,000 tonnes of emissions (around 15% of our total emissions), that’s roughly the equivalent of 238 car trips from Cape Reinga to Bluff and back in a year. Learn more about our total emissions measurement.

How do carbon credits work?

Carbon credits are investments in environmental projects all over the world that aim to reduce the amount of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere. Greenhouse gasses are all the gasses that when released into the earth’s atmosphere hold the heat in so global temperature rises, such as carbon dioxide – this causes what we know today as climate change. 

The projects we invest in produce one credit for every tonne of greenhouse gas avoided, reduced or removed and we purchase one credit for every tonne of carbon we emit, this process is called offsetting and how we become carbon neutral.

We support both local and global projects with our carbon credits, find out more about the projects we support.

You can download our full disclosure document (PDF - 2MB).

^*For international parcels, we’ve measured and offset as far as getting the parcel to the destination country’s border.