A report by Centre for Environment Education (CEE) and OLX estimates that transactions on OLX India in FY 2016-17 have helped save 6.6 million tons of CO2, which is equivalent to CO2 emitted annually by half of Delhi’s transport sector
India CSR News Network
NEW DELHI: Every time one uses OLX, the earth becomes a little bit greener. Because every time one buys on OLX, one less item gets produced, lowering carbon-di-oxide (CO2) emissions that are suffocating our environment and lungs. Every time one sells on OLX, the life of that product gets extended ensuring more judicious use.
Carbon footprint is the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere as a result of the activities of a particular individual, organization, or community. On the occasion of World Environment Day, OLX India announced that in the last one year, about 10 million transactions across eleven categories have directly curbed 6.6 million tons of CO2 emissions in FY 2016-17.
How big is 6.6 million tons of CO2, you may want to know. It is equivalent to CO2 emissions that 10.5 million teak trees, which are widely chopped down for their premium wood, absorb in their entire lifetime. It is also equal to CO2 emissions curbed by the Delhi Metro in 12.5 years.
All this and more was revealed by an exclusive report brought out by the Ahmedabad based Centre for Environment Education (CEE), which was established in 1984 as a centre of excellence under the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change, Government of India. For the calculation of carbon emission, all stages in the life-cycle of a product, from raw material procurement till it reaches the user were taken into account for eleven product categories on OLX. The categories of goods covered in the report include car, mobile, refrigerator, television, computer, laptop, sofa, tablet, camera, books and clothes.
Several other key OLX product categories such as baby products, sports equipment, musical instruments, fashion accessories, some furniture items, as well as real estate, and jobs were not included in this report. It can be presumed that with the inclusion of all OLX product categories, the CO2 saved would have been even higher.
“Environment is not the first thing people worry about because the ill-effects of environment degradation and pollution are not immediately evident. But I would like to urge people to recall the time a few months ago when people in Delhi and in many other parts of north India were wearing masks, schools were shut, and we were gasping for clean air. Buying and selling pre-owned is an easy way in which we can reduce our carbon footprint, help decrease pollution, and leave a healthier planet for our children.”, Said Amarjit Singh Batra, CEO, OLX India.
The CO2 saved by OLX this year is twice of what was saved in FY 2015-16 as per the same CEE report.
“It’s great to see more people using OLX. We’ve experienced robust growth in the last one year, and that’s the reason why the CO2 saved by us is significantly higher this year. ‘Reduce-Reuse-Recycle’ are the three popular ‘Rs’ based on which one can decrease one’s carbon footprint. At OLX we believe that a fourth ‘R’ –Resell – should be added which can help us cut not only our own, but also our community, and country’s carbon footprint,” added Batra.
“This World Environment Day, with its theme ‘Connecting People to Nature’, is a moment when we should realize how nature works in a cyclical way with no waste. OLX through creating a modern platform for sharing and reusing is a step in this direction of building a sustainable society.”, Said Kartikeya V. Sarabhai, Director, CEE,
Some Interesting Facts about the OLX-CEE Report
11- wind turbines would have emitted as much CO2 that transactions of pre-owned refrigerators on OLX have saved.
40- kilograms of CO2 are emitted in the production of each mobile phone.
110- Delhi-Mumbai roundtrips would have emitted the same amount of CO2 that transactions of pre-owned books on OLX helped save.
500- kilograms of CO2 is saved each time a used TV is bought or sold on OLX.
2000- kilograms of CO2 is saved each time a used car is bought.
19,237 – Delhi-San Francisco round trips emit as much CO2 as transactions of computers helped save on OLX.
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