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GEKCO’S

ENVIRONMENTAL PILLARS

  • Carbon negative

    125% carbon negative as an absolute minimum. Our carbon emission figures take into account every possible source we can uncover carbon emission date for within our supply chain and business. We don't solely look at what we directly produce, but also that of our suppliers. In technical terms this means we also look at scope 3 and not just scope 1 & 2.

  • Sustainable sourcing

    We choose to use seawater processed chalk which is currently the most environmentally-friendly sourcing option. Our packaging is sourced from recycled material where possible and is fully kerbside recyclable, alongside schemes to reduce waste such as our Bulk Refill Scheme and Bottle Return Scheme.

  • community initiatives

    Operate a self-tax scheme to support charities and organisations such as CAC and Mountain Rescue, as well as nationwide initiatives like crag cleanups and maintenance. We also support young athletes with their professional climbing careers through our athlete program. It is key that we reinvest into our communities.

  • Research and development

    Our goal is to constantly produce and innovate towards the most environmentally-friendly products possible, without compromising performance. We’re working tirelessly on zero/low waste versions of our current and future products in order to make change across the climbing and outdoor industry.

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Our chalk sourcing

GEKCO chooses to source raw materials for our chalk production from seawater processing. Compared with the most common source of mined materials from China, where mining operations have caused severe degradation to the environment, personal health of workers and living conditions of nearby towns.

The benefits of seawater processing are:

  • Full or partial use of solar energy during manufacturing

  • Limited land scarring and environmental degradation

  • Regulated higher standards for workers

  • Production is controlled in line with environmental policies with tighter waste management and airborne particulate controls

Based wholly on research, our findings suggest this to be a more sustainable and environmentally friendly method. However we will always strive to find the most sustainable options available and with a constant R&D effort, we are able to monitor changes in the market and identify any new and potentially alternative solutions and sourcing methods that offer an improvement to the sustainability of our product.

Read more here

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Our carbon offsetting

At the end of 2021, we calculated our Scope 1, 2 and 3 carbon emissions as accurately as available data allowed. We then offset over 230% of our carbon through offsetting projects verified by carbon standards.

SOLAR COOKERS FOR REFUGEES IN CHAD

Over 200,000 Sudanese refugees have fled to Chad, sometimes staying in camps for more than 15 years. Finding firewood for cooking is one of numerous challenges facing these refugees, as firewood is scarce in this region. Women and children are forced to travel long distances to collect firewood, while facing harassment, assault and abduction. In order to tackle this issue, CooKit was launched in 2005, a cooking stove that uses solar energy, which is plentiful in Chad. This project is Gold Standard verified.

Benefits of CooKit Project:

  • Prevention of carbon emissions through a huge reduction in wood fires

  • Improvement to safety of women and children especially

  • Increased school attendance of children

  • Smokeless cooking has improved the health of refugees

  • Reduction of wood fires has slowed the rate of deforestation by more than 50%, ensuring carbon remains within the biomass and continued absorption of carbon

UK FOREST CREATION AND PEATLAND RESTORATION

These are Woodland Carbon Code verified projects provided by Forest Carbon of which our purchase contributes to three forest creation projects and one peatland restoration across England and Scotland.

Not only will woodlands sequester and store carbon, they also foster habitats, support biodiversity and provide natural flood prevention. Peatlands are critical in mitigating climate change and also provide natural flood protection and support biodiversity.

These credits are different and are known as ‘ex-ante’, as they invest in future carbon reductions as trees take years to reach full maturity. It was important to us to invest in the future of the UK, replacing woodland that has historically been chopped down. These cannot immediately be claimed as offset credits, but will become so in the future.