Winchester Business Excellence Award judges recognise over 358 tonnes of CO2e since July 2023
A carbon calculator developed by a Companion at homelessness charity Emmaus Hampshire has won the best Technology and Digital Innovation category in the Winchester Business Excellence Awards.
The calculator is the first in the UK designed specifically for second hand goods market. It has already demonstrated that the items sold from Emmaus Hampshire’s social enterprise prevented 358,136 tonnes of carbon being released to atmosphere between July 2023 and March 2024.
Developer John Jarrett, an Emmaus Hampshire Companion, and support manager, Ben Parkin received the award in a ceremony at Winchester College last night [30 May 2024]. Nigel Samuels, Chief Executive of Emmaus Hampshire, says, “We are extremely proud of John for developing this carbon calculator. He is the embodiment of all that is good about our community.”
Emmaus Hampshire’s Carbon Calculator measures the amount of CO2e saved by recycling and upcycling furniture, clothing, white goods and homeware through its social enterprise. It provides tangible examples of what these C02e savings mean, in practical everyday terms that people will understand.
Nigel Samuels, says, “As part of our own journey to net zero, we wanted a robust tool to measure what we offset through our social enterprise. This not only gives us a sense of the value we contribute to the community in Winchester, it also demonstrates to our donors and customers the positive environmental impact of their actions.”
Emmaus sales are “giving a second life”
The savings shown on the carbon calculator are based on the avoidance of incineration and landfill. “It’s about giving a second life to the product,” comments John Jarrett, who devoted over 1,000 hours to research and develop the calculator.
“When someone donates to us, 98% of the time we are the last place they come to before the tip. If you buy this product, you are saving it from destruction and repurposing all the embedded carbon in the product plus the environmental impact of incinerating or sending it to landfill. Your actions may give it an extra 5, 10, 50 years of life!”
Emmaus Hampshire believes this is the first of its kind; neither the charity nor any of its partners have been able to find anything like it in the UK or abroad.
The tool has been presented for review by sustainability experts at Winchester University, Hampshire County Council and the Renewable Energy Scheme.
Sustainability is on of Emmaus Hampshire’s core values. Its Winchester HQ and accommodation building is of low carbon construction with a grass roof and the entire social enterprise is based on reuse and upcycling. Now, the charity can calculate the carbon benefit of that activity and measure its progress every year.