Forest carries out its Carbon Footprint with Greenly

1.3k

Number of round trips London / New York

180

Annual emissions in number of British people

201

Hectares of growing forest needed to compensate

What can you tell us about your company? 🔍

Forest is London's most sustainable and affordable shared e-bike service.  Our mission is clear – shift commuters away from more intensive carbon-emitting transport modes to create a cleaner, more sustainable city. 

We operate a shared e-bike service that makes cycling more affordable and sustainable. Users enjoy 10 minutes of free cycling daily by engaging with ads within the app. Notably, our operations are fully electric, powered by renewable energy, and hold a B Corp certification.

Sustainability is at the heart of Forest's mission. As we scale it is crucial we have carbon reporting partners who can provide us the level of support we need to keep us on track for sustainable, responsible and considerate growth

Laura Elms

Head of Sustainability - Forest

Why did you decide to carry out a GHG assessment? 🤔

Previous to Greenly, we initially relied on open-source data for our carbon calculations. However, as we scaled, we looked to externalize our carbon footprint and sought Greenly's expertise. Having our carbon footprint report conducted by a third party ensured that we were keeping in line with greenhouse gas protocol and not over-inflating or under-inflating carbon emissions calculations.   Indeed, this level of GHG assessment reassures us that we are measuring our CO2 figures as accurately as possible whilst also following best practice for reducing emissions in our supply chain and other Scope 3 areas.

We want to ensure that as we grow we are able to retain our position as the most sustainable shared e-bike service.

Why Greenly? 🌱

Having reviewed a number of tools, Greenly seemed to have the most solid methodology and approach for measuring Scope 3, where the lion's share of our emissions originate. We really liked the interface and the support of the account managers at Greenly at every step of the process.

Ultimately, it was a combination of three things: Greenly’s experience in our sector, its reasonable pricing and their intuitive platform that aligns with our lean team.

Greenly's platform provided us with a comprehensive and straightforward data collection process. This was a significant shift from open-source data, since we weren’t able to scrutinize every single purchase we ever made. We also liked the way the results are graphically laid out. You can start to get a real feel for where your emissions are coming from and directly know the next steps for reducing our carbon footprint.

What were the outcomes of the Carbon Footprint report? 📊

Our carbon assessment showed that our total emissions in 2022 were 2260 tCO2e. Our main emission posts were Assets (71.6%), Services Purchase (13%) and Freight (4.9%). 

A fascinating finding was the impact air freight has on our total figure.  Although only a small portion of our hardware was sent by air freight last year, the impact that this had on our CO2 emissions was significant! This certainly highlighted the importance of sea freight over air freight. 

The rest of the report wasn’t so surprising, given that our business operations grew hugely in the last year. When we looked at the categorization, the hardware as a proportion went from 90 percent of our emissions to about 70. But that was the only real sway. A lot of other areas, for example, like office technology, for example, or commuting, stayed pretty much the same as a proportion of the overall figure. 

What are your reduction actions? 

The main one action plan recommended by Greenly, and that we have already started implementing it, was buying secondhand but unused assets. This doesn't reduce our total emissions, but it allows us to have avoided emissions. 

The second reduction item that is coming this year is our work with our suppliers. Our relationship with Greenly is going to facilitate making that process a lot easier and getting our suppliers to reduce their emissions as well.

The last one goes back to air freight and avoiding it as much as possible.

For the emissions we cannot reduce, we are investing in a project with The Great Reserve, who protect giant sequoia trees which are now becoming endangered in North America. The project plants groves in the UK, on land that has already been felled. This UK-based initiative emphasizes long-term care for trees, adding a tangible dimension to our offsetting efforts.

How was the Carbon Footprint perceived by your team?

The Forest team received the carbon footprint report positively. The survey sparked interest in food consumption's impact on emissions, reflecting our commitment to understanding and improving our environmental footprint. I think it is important that we set a positive example as a company. 

What would you say to a company that's hesitant to embark on their first carbon footprint? 

We would advise companies who are hesitant about embarking on their first carbon footprint assessment that incremental improvements are key, and perfection should not be the goal. Procrastination only delays the journey towards sustainability, and taking the first step allows for continuous adaptation and gradual improvements over time.

With Greenly as our partner, Forest is poised for continued growth, making strides towards a more sustainable, responsible, and considerate future for shared e-bike services in London!