for the planet
As a sport that began as an outdoor pursuit taking care of the earth has been important to us from day one
Most climbers pride themselves on being green; bringing that same ethos to our operations indoors felt like a natural progression. Our climbing has always revolved around Bouldering Makes You Happy, everything in our gyms is designed to lift your spirits and it’s such a reward to see customers leave happier than they arrived. We’re proud to be ‘doing our bit’ by donating 1% of profits and providing carbon neutral bouldering; continuing that feeling of happiness for our customers knowing they’re supporting a company that supports the planet.
1% of our profits are donated to Rainforest Rescue
With the help of Rainforest Rescue 1% of our profits go to preserving and restoring Australian Rainforests and their biodiversity
Deforestation remains one of the most important issues of our time. Rainforest Rescue is a not-for-profit organisation that has been protecting and restoring rainforests both in Australia and internationally since 1999. Over the past 20 years a key focus of their work has been the buy-back and reforestation of the lowland Daintree rainforest – an internationally important, ancient and unique area that needs protection. To date they have planted over 290,000 native trees throughout Australia and saved 36 large rainforest properties from logging; conserving the homes of beloved and threatened Australian wildlife.
we are proudly carbon neutral
This initiative eliminates over 200 tonnes of CO2 being emitted into the atmosphere each year
For a few years now, 9 Degrees has been using suppliers who make you feel good – like BioPak for biodegradable coffee cups and Who Gives A Crap for responsible toilet paper. When products from these suppliers arrive at the gym, they have clear messages on their boxes to indicate they are carbon neutral companies. At the same time, we’e all becoming more aware of carbon emissions through media coverage and climate change. So, it sparked the question – why can’t 9 Degrees become carbon neutral? It turns out it’s not that hard to do!
WHY BECOME CARBON NEUTRAL?
Experts have warned for years that inaction on Carbon Emissions will lead to drastic climate changes and socio-economic disasters. To prevent this, we all need to take account of our carbon emissions and make continued efforts to reduce them. Our world is at a tipping point: it has never been more crucial to reassess our impacts on the environment, as individuals and organisations, and take actions to reduce or eliminate this impact. One of the most significant ways to do this is by reducing our carbon footprint.
WHAT IS THE PROCESS OF BECOMING CARBON NEUTRAL?
The first step is working out your carbon emissions. There are now many online tools that can assist with this, such as CarbonNeutral.com.au (which can also be used to easily offset your household’s carbon emissions) or through consultants who specialise in this field. We have determined our emissions in all three categories as they are defined in the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. Scope 1 - All emissions generated on site directly from our operations, Scope 2 - All emissions generated by the electricity that we use, and Scope 3 - All indirect emissions from our operations from sources that we do not own or control.
The next step is to effectively bring the emissions to zero. There are a few options to achieve this. You can just keep doing what you are doing and purchase carbon offsets but that has its limitations. Cleaning up pollution is different from not causing it in the first place, and the carbon offset schemes sometimes fail to deliver the offsets they promise due to unforeseen weather events like bush fires.
Our analysis showed that most of our CO2 emissions originate from our electricity consumption (Scope 2 emissions). With this knowledge we switched to carbon neutral energy suppliers and installed more energy efficient LED lighting in all our gyms. We then analysed our Scope 3 emissions (such as from employee commutes, waste recycling, water usage, travel, printer paper usage, delivery trucks etc.). Where possible, w have switched suppliers to carbon neutral options, Where emissions could not be eliminated we offset them with high quality carbon credits each quarter.
DO YOU HAVE ANY FUTURE PLANS?
The next, much harder step, is to analyse the carbon emissions related opening new 9 Degrees venues as well as eliminating our carbon legacy from our 6 years of operations. The suppliers required to establish a new gym (e.g. climbing wall builders and hold suppliers) are mostly unable to tell us their carbon footprints, making it hard to accurately offset these. We are pushing hard for change and I think we will get there eventually as they too are becoming aware of the need for better practices. We are all in this together and hopefully we can lift the industry as one.