Market Lane is Carbon Neutral

Sustainability is one of our company’s core values; it has guided many of our business decisions since we opened in 2009. As Market Lane co-founder Jason Scheltus says, “we are a business that gains financially by taking from the environment, so we have a moral obligation to account for that.” 

The process of becoming carbon neutral began with a full audit of our business. We looked at every expense line and attributed a carbon cost to the activity. This included not only the carbon we emit directly, such as the electricity to run our shops and our roastery, but also carbon emitted simply because our company exists, including our team members’ commutes to work. Working with our green bean importers, Melbourne Coffee Merchants, we also included all the carbon emitted in the process of cultivating and milling coffee, and shipping it to Australia.

Our next task was to look at ways of reducing our carbon emissions. Some of the steps we’ve taken over the last few years include:

• Installing solar panels at our roastery and head office in East Brunswick.
• Diverting coffee grounds and organic waste from landfill to organic recycling.
• Switching from foil-lined bags to compostable ones, and also partnering with TerraCycle to recycle them.
• Reducing single-use packaging by teaming up with Returnr.
• Partnering with carbon neutral suppliers (such as Minor Figures, who supply our shops with oat milk).

Finally, we calculated our carbon emissions for the 2020/2021 financial year, which came to just under 1000 tonnes of CO2-e (all the greenhouse gases covered by the Kyoto Protocol). We offset these emissions by buying carbon credits in two renewable energy projects in India – one hydroelectric, the other wind power. This means the money we have spent to offset our carbon emissions will provide clean energy to communities most at risk of the negative effects of climate change. For the current financial year, we’re looking at investing in projects in coffee-growing countries, and here in Australia. 

We are very proud of our carbon neutral status, and we’re aware that it’s just one step in our sustainability journey. We continue to search for ways to reduce our emissions, limit waste, recycle, and ultimately protect and care for the precious environment that produces our morning brew. Learn more about how we are working to reduce our impact on the environment and, in the meantime, enjoy our delicious carbon neutral coffee!

If you have any questions or comments about our carbon neutral process, please feel free to get in touch. We love to discuss this topic! Contact us at hello@marketlane.com.au.