The move reinforces the private hire taxi firm’s commitment to minimise its impact on the environment, while not compromising on vehicle quality and service.
To achieve this, the family-run operation has partnered with the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire to support the Great Fen project, which aims to restore a huge wetland area between Peterborough and Huntingdon over the next 50 years.
By the autumn more than 616 hectares of land, about 40% of the total to be eventually covered by the Great Fen, will be undergoing restoration and being managed for nature. Donations from GreenAir Cars will be used specifically to help restore 182 hectares of land at the aptly named Engine Farm, at the heart of the project.
GreenAir Cars co-founder Justin Ott says: “We realise our type of business can be damaging to the environment. In addition, there’s a growing desire within the Cambridge business community to make eco-conscious choices and invest in green technologies.
“By working with the Wildlife Trust, we’re helping to restore the wild fen landscape in a time where the Green Belt around Cambridge is shrinking. We chose a Cambridgeshire-based project in a bid to give something back to the community in which we live and work.
“Choosing GreenAir Cars for business travel means firms are making a positive environmental choice.”
GreenAir Cars calculate the amount of carbon emitted per journey, by converting the mileage into grams of carbon emitted. This allows them to accurately track their environmental impact. It also means GreenAir Cars is the only taxi firm in the East able to issue carbon reports to business customers, which is now a legal obligation for publically listed firms.
The emissions are then converted into pounds. Donations to the Great Fen will be made twice a year and are anticipated to run into hundreds of pounds.
Caroline Prout corporate partnerships manager at the Wildlife Trust says that, while they aren’t a certified offset scheme, they have evidence the work they are doing is helping to combat climate change.
“We are delighted that GreenAir Cars have chosen to support a local conservation project in lieu of offsetting their carbon emissions.
”The restoration work we are doing on the Great Fen is halting C02 emissions caused by the erosion of the peat.
“As the peat formed over thousands of years, it captured carbon from the atmosphere and stored it. When the Cambridgeshire Fens were drained in the 1800s, the peat became exposed to the air and began to erode.
“The restoration work carried out on the Great Fen by the Wildlife Trust includes raising the water levels to re-wet the peat and revert the area from a source of carbon emissions back to a carbon store.“
The Wildlife Trust estimates that each restored hectare of the Great Fen will prevent the loss of 10,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalents. In addition to this, once the land is restored, it will begin to store carbon again at an estimated annual rate of 2,300 tonnes per hectare.
The partnership coincides with re-launch of GreenAir Cars, formally known as cab4one. The pre-bookable car service specialises in long runs and airport transfers for business travellers to and from Cambridge, Uttlesford, north Essex and west Suffolk. It uses either electric hybrid vehicles or cars with strong eco-credentials.
The GreenAir Cars carbon positive scheme is just the latest in a long line of innovations; the firm was the first in the UK to offer free on-board Wi-Fi, advanced online booking and paperless invoicing. The firm also provides an end-to-end booking management service for personal assistants or travel managers.
Justin Ott adds: “Our focus is clients, climate and cost. We aim to offer our business account customers the highest quality of service. Our fuel efficient vehicles keep costs down, meaning our service doesn’t cost the earth either, in more ways than one.”
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