Pencils not polar ice-caps

The problem
With the building industry responsible for a staggering 40% of carbon emissions, any company wanting to reduce their carbon footprint needs the full support of their workforce. Land Securities wanted to lead by example and be the first company in their industry to make it compulsory for their employees to track their own carbon emissions.

The project first came about when the concept of a carbon footprint was still relatively new to most people. What does a carbon footprint look like, how big is it and why should we bother? Any communications had to educate and inspire people to take action.

The Solution
The idea was simple  – make carbon emissions tangible, put things into perspective. So, we turned to the humble pencil -  used by everyone from architects to builders.

The carbon contained in the pencil’s lead seems like nothing to worry about, that’s until its scrawled out in front of you, one pencil can cover an area a meter squared with grey mess. With the average person releasing enough pencil carbon to cover  an area the size of Manchester in a day the problem soon hits home.

The website and carbon tracker was to be a Google maps mashup. Taking employees to various coordinates on the map to show how much area their emissions would have covered and the areas of natural beauty they have helped to protect that week.

Reminders to visit the site would have been found in the hands of employees across the company.