pilipili plants a forest
Not only our fire colors are green. So are our actions.
Never before has the cry for environmentally friendly action been so great. In early March 2022, the International Energy Agency reported that international CO2 emissions had reached a new peak in 2021: as much as 36.3 billion tons of CO2 were released into the atmosphere worldwide. "So it is urgent time for everyone to take responsibility. That includes us at pilipili," said Steven Dehollander, CEO of pilipili product design & engineering.
From CO2 ...
"Some parts of our services require transportation from China. That can be about materials of products or ordering a prototype. First of all, prevention is better than cure, so we try, if possible, to place our orders in Belgium or in Europe. Unfortunately, in terms of price-quality, this is just not always possible," Wim explains.
"As a designer, you are always looking for new directions to take with your customers. So we think it's important to steer consumers in the right direction in terms of sustainability as well. That's why we started our carbon offsetting in April 2021."
So when pilipili does order over a far distance, the team prefers boat or train. "Even then you emit polluting gases, but the amount is still considerably lower than with the plane," he says. But the delivery time is also longer in that case. "If a customer cannot factor in that extra time and air transport remains as the only option, we switch to our CO2 offsets. That offset means we increase the final amount on the invoice by 6%. One half of that additional amount is for the customer's account, with pilipili taking the other 3%. With that additional revenue, we can build a nice piggy bank as an investment in sustainable initiatives," explains the Green team member. From April 2021 to December of that year, pilipili already collected 7,500 euros which they donated in full to the climate forest fund of BOS+.
... to a corporate forest
Bos+ is a Flemish forest-centered organization. They advocate forest conservation, but also offer services to create more forest. Moreover, they share their knowledge to raise the quality of forests to a higher level. Wim: "So we took advantage of their service around corporate forests, because with our 7,500 euros, Bos+ went to work. Through our contribution, they planted a new 0.75-hectare forest on a private property in De Panne in early March."
Green future
Of course, pilipili is not leaving it at that. "We will continue with our carbon offsets to continue to work with Bos+ in the future. Our big dream is to one day plant our own pilipili forest on our own land. So a goal we will work towards in the coming years. And in the meantime, we will also remain alert on the shop floor about how we can be a more sustainable company through small interventions," Wim concludes.
