Carbon offset program
A high volume of vehicles are leased each month by Smartleasing customers. These inevitably generate carbon emissions that damage the environment, so we decided to partner with Greenfleet – a not-for-profit organisation that helps offset those carbon emissions.
We’ve named our carbon offset program Purple Meets Green.
A fortnightly pre-tax donation of $2.42 will help offset the carbon emissions generated when you drive your leased car, and is available to you for the term of your lease.
Greenfleet purchase trees with our customers’ donations which are used to plant forests that soak up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The forests are made up of Australian native trees that also help reduce soil erosion and salinity, improve water quality and provide habitat for our native animals.
In fact, Greenfleet will plant 21 native trees for each annual donation, which will offset your vehicle's carbon emissions by an average of 5.6 tonnes per year!
Since 1997, they have planted over 7.5 million native trees on behalf of both their individual and business supporters at over 300 sites throughout Australia.
To ensure your trees are correctly offsetting your emissions, Greenfleet monitor the growth and survival of trees six months after planting, and then every year for five years. After that, sites are inspected every five years to make sure they are maintained. Because they ensure that conditions are right before planting, survival rates for the trees remain high – there was a 97% survival rate for plantings in 2008.
Smartleasing was recently awarded the Huon Award (named for Australia’s oldest living tree) by Greenfleet to acknowledge the commitment and support our customers have shown in reducing their carbon footprint for the last 5 years.