Address climate change
Reduce Woolworths relative carbon footprint by 30%/du
Woolworths is committed to reducing the amount of carbon produced directly by the business (currently measured at 273 010 tonnes).
Commitments to carbon output reduction include:
- reduce relative transport emissions by 20%;
- reduce relative electricity usage by 30%;
- invest savings from reductions in use of electricity and water into other sustainable business projects;
- open a trial carbon neutral store;
- source food regionally wherever possible reducing reliance on long distance road transport;
- restrict airfreight of our food products and clearly label food imported by air within 12 months;
- help set up model ‘green’ factories with selected suppliers and work closely with suppliers to reduce their carbon footprint; and
- work with soil scientists to regularly monitor our farmers’ soil sustainability, increasing its CO2 absorption abilities.
Woolworths current commitments will reduce our carbon footprint by 30%/distributable unit (du) by 2012. This reduction will also lead to significant operational savings which the business will reinvest in exploring additional sustainable business alternatives. We will also work closely with our suppliers and customers, mobilising them to reduce their carbon footprint. For example, we will be one of the first retailers worldwide to ONLY sell energy saving lightbulbs – our customers will no longer be able to buy incandescent light bulbs in our stores.
Woolworths will continue to support carbon offsetting, exploring alternative options but with an initial focus on greening to absorb carbon excess – this will be done by planting more trees on our own Midrand campus and at our MySchool schools and our Eduplant schools.