Toshiba Roll Out a Carbon Offsetting Initiative Across UK, Carbon Offsetting Initiative in UK, Toshiba Roll Out Carbon Offsetting Initiative

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PR Newswire | 01 Jun, 2010
CHERTSEY (England): Businesses that are concerned about the environmental impact of their office equipment can now print and copy documents carbon-free, following Toshiba TEC Imaging's decision to roll out a carbon offsetting initiative across the UK and Ireland.

After a successful pilot programme last year, carbon emissions produced during the design, manufacture, distribution and everyday use of Toshiba multi-function printers (MFPs) in the UK can now be offset through a scheme that helps villagers in Kenya reduce their own carbon footprint. Even the paper and toner that the MFPs use is offset.

The African Energy Efficient Stove project, which is run through an independent British organisation called CO2balance, supplies domestic stoves that cut the use of firewood by more than half. Each cooker typically prevents three tonnes of CO2 emissions every year - equivalent to the emissions produced by an average UK car doing 9,000 miles a year.

Four thousand Kenyan households have already switched to this energy efficient method of cooking thanks to Toshiba carbon-free MFPs - and the scheme's success means that 30,000 stoves could be installed by the end of this year. Combined with further innovations in the products themselves it means that carbon savings are made in both the UK and in Africa.

Installing the more efficient stoves doesn't just benefit the environment: it also helps reduces the 1.6 million deaths each year that the World Health Association identifies as associated with smoke inhalation. In fact, the WHO states that cooking on an inefficient '3-stone fire' is the equivalent of smoking 2 packets of cigarettes a day.

A package of energy-saving measures

As environmental considerations are already built in to Toshiba's products, the MFP Carbon zero scheme is just one part of the company's commitment to social and environmental concerns. Toshiba MFPs already feature cutting-edge functionality that helps users reduce their environmental impact.

Nonetheless, however seriously organisations take their environmental responsibilities, some level of CO2 emissions are the inevitable consequence of the manufacture, design and use of office products. Toshiba's carbon zero programme allows customers to offset such emissions in full, including servicing and consumables, for five years of the product's life, or one million copies.

Beyond carbon emissions

Steve Hewson, Marketing Director for Toshiba TEC Imaging says: "Most organisations these days would claim to care about their social or environmental impact, but even the practical ways they try to achieve their ambitions - by recycling, or encouraging employees not to print documents unnecessarily - can only go so far. If you truly care about running a greener office, cutting your costs and helping the environment, you have to make sure the products you use have sustainability 'built in' and that any residual CO2 emissions are offset - completely."

"The African Energy Efficient Stove project delivers savings on two continents and means that as well as contributing to your own environmental efforts, you can make a very real difference to the lives of people in East Africa."