Katharine House Hospice trials innovative CO2 till displays to promote sustainable shopping
In a recent blog post, we talked about the impact of climate change. We said that global average temperatures are 1.2°C higher than in the pre-industrial era and it’s on track to increase by 2.7°C by 2100.
If this happens, it will render parts of the planet uninhabitable.
The environmental crisis has global implications and must be tackled collectively for meaningful change to happen.
Regardless of their cause, charities have a vital role to play in promoting the dangers of climate change awareness.
And that’s exactly what Katharine House Hospice (KHH) is doing.
Since August 2023, the Stafford-based charity, which provides free palliative care services for adults, has been promoting sustainable shopping in 14 of its charity shops with intelligent till displays that show customers how much CO2 has been saved through their second-hand purchases.
The technology, provided by software company, Eproductive, calculates the average CO₂ required to make items brand new and shows the total sustainability savings made by buying second-hand at the end of the transaction.
One customer, who saved 40.2 kg CO₂ with their purchase, was told that the saving would almost cover a flight from Manchester to London for one passenger in economy, (which uses between 60-100 kgs of CO₂).
They said, “wow, that puts things into perspective. It’s interesting to see that you can save so much CO₂ by shopping second-hand.
It’s a good deal and it helps the environment”.
The charity estimated that buying an outfit of seven items would save about 32.3kg of CO₂, which is just more than the amount of CO₂ used to drive 80 miles in an average car.
Breaking the mould
Katharine House Hospice is the first charity in the UK to show sustainability savings in its shops. And Simon Dodd, the charity’s retail general manager hopes more charities will follow suit.
Of the initiative, he said, “we want to get the sustainability message across to every customer … it’s great that we can show customers how much good each sale is doing and the difference that shopping with us is making. And to be the first in the UK to do it is amazing.
He went on to say he hoped the charity sector “could work together to expand the data for standard CO₂ savings across all departments, including furniture and electronics.”
Final Word
According to the UN, fashion is the second-most polluting industry, behind big oil. It accounts for 10% of global carbon emissions and 20% of wastewater production.
The UK’s 11,000+ charity shops play a crucial role in decreasing the UK’s carbon footprint by reducing waste that would otherwise end up in landfill.
Demonstrating the impact customers are making at the point of purchase is a powerful way to communicate the gravity of the climate crisis whilst encouraging them to choose preloved.
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