On-line entertainment guide goes carbon negative

With the Government’s Energy White Paper aiming to cut carbon emissions up to 60% by 2050, every business in the UK is feeling the strain of reducing their carbon footprint. But, the UK’s premier on-line entertainment guide, Localnightsout.com, has made a serious commitment to its customers and the environment.

Pledging to plant a tree for every new paid advert taken out on their website, businesses can now reduce their carbon footprint while promoting themselves in a green and effective way. Plus, Localnightsout.com is also committed to considerably reducing its own carbon emissions.

Wayne Davies, Company Director, explains: ‘Localnightsout.com has two objectives - we want our users to have constant access to the best information for all their leisure and entertainment needs. If they need concert tickets, limousine hire or a hotel room in their local area, our website is the one-stop-shop. But we also care about the environment. That’s why we’ve worked hard to implement a whole range of initiatives, which means we are already carbon growth neutral.

‘The first issue we had to address was the amount of carbon produced by hosting and managing our website. We realised that a typical web server can generate over 2 tonnes of carbon per year, so we looked for effective ways to significantly reduce this amount.’

The solution was to join a shared server with 92 other companies. This means that the 2 tonnes of CO2 produced by the server is spilt between each of the companies, reducing their annual production to only 0.022 tonnes per year.

As well as lowering the carbon emissions of their website, Localnightsout.com has taken into account a number of factors to reduce its carbon footprint, including lighting and air-conditioning in the data centres. In assessing every factor that could contribute to running the company, Localnightsout.com has offset a significantly higher carbon footprint of 4.5 tonnes. By setting a higher target they are confident of covering all aspects of their website hosting and more.

So how did the company go about actually replacing the CO2 they produce? They began by making a donation to Blue Ventures Carbon Offset (BVCO), a not-for-profit carbon offsetting programme.

Wayne continues: ‘We wanted to donate to a really proactive company and see the results of our contributions. Their open expeditions means that anyone can see the offset in action, and because they are verified by an independent body we can be certain our donations are going towards combating climate change’.

In addition to offsetting the CO2 produced by the hosting of the website, Localnightsout.com also pledge to plant a tree in a British woodland or forest for every new paid display taken out on Localnightsout.com. All customers are issued with a certificate confirming the planting.

The company chose Growaforest, a not-for-profit company aimed at improving the state of our planet, to undertake the planting of their customers’ trees. Growaforest is run by volunteers, using every penny generated to plant native trees and make the forests available for everyone to enjoy.

What is perhaps most surprising is that the cost of all these initiatives doesn’t impact on customers’ budgets. Localnightsout.com is committed to paying up front for carbon offsetting. And their hard work doesn’t simply benefit their company’s carbon footprint, but also those of every company that takes out an ad with them.

Wayne concludes: ‘What all this means is that rather than just being carbon growth neutral we can actually make a positive impact on the environment and climate change by being carbon growth negative.’

To find out about Localnightsout.com and its carbon neutral initiatives, call them on 020 8432 9810, or visit their website at www.localnightsout.com.