Blackburn business goes carbon neutral

Blackburn-based eBusiness UK, which has its head office in Capricorn Park, is tackling the problem of climate change head-on by replanting trees in an Ethiopian forest.

The company, which scooped last year's Lancashire Telegraph Business Awards IT and Technology accolade, has planted hundreds of trees in the developing African country to offset its carbon emissions and help support the local population.

And after launching its national franchise network last year, eBusiness UK will also be encouraging its franchisees to sign up to similar carbon neutral schemes.

Kam Kothia, who set up eBusiness UK in 1998, was the driving force behind the decision to plant the trees and became aware of the scheme, which is run by CarbonMe.org, after meeting a member of the company at a business event.

He said: "The need to take care of the environment is now high on the agenda at all levels, and more information about its significance is being brought to our attention.

"This is a good thing, as it is making people realise the consequences of our actions, and the devastating effect of not taking care of our world - particularly for future generations.

"It is up to all of us to play a part in turning this around and as a company we're proud to be doing something."

And Mr Kothia believes other companies should do their bit to reduce carbon emissions.

He added: "Each and every one of us needs to do our bit to reverse the worrying trends we are seeing. Businesses and public sector organisations have an excellent opportunity here to lead the way and set an example."

As well as planting trees to neutralise the carbon output created by operating its offices and travelling to see clients, eBusiness UK has developed a number of environmentally friendly applications for its customers which have reduced the use of paper and the need to travel.

According to Mr Kothia, the trees planted in Ethopia will remove approximately 150 tonnes of CO2 from the global atmosphere.