Those emissions are now being offset through Baileys’ purchase of verified carbon units for wind energy projects which would otherwise not have been economical had they not been able to sell the units.

Baileys is also upgrading machinery to improve efficiency, eliminate waste and reduce the emissions from their production process. A recycling program for packaging is also being investigated.

The family was in 2016 inducted into the Family Business Australia Hall of Fame which recognises and celebrates the outstanding contribution family businesses make to the State’s economy, community and culture.

Baileys was started by James’ great grandfather Walter in the Goldfields in 1926 and moved to Spearwood in the 1930s to service a neighbourhood then dominated by market gardeners and poultry and dairy farmers.

Image

“Baileys are a very small emitter in Australia and even less so globally, but everybody needs to play a part in avoiding the major impacts of climate change and hopefully our move will prompt further businesses to investigate and go carbon neutral” he said.

Baileys, the family-owned WA fertiliser and potting mix business, has gone carbon neutral and is urging other companies to do the same.

Baileys joins businesses or organisations including Clayton Utz, City of Fremantle, Cullen Wines and Voyager Estate, which are also voluntarily carbon neutral.

Although a small emitter in the scheme of things — Australia’s total carbon emissions in the year to March 2019 is estimated at 538.9 million tonnes — Mr Bailey said everybody needed to play a part in avoiding the major impacts of climate change.

The process of going carbon neutral involved commissioning Pangolin Associates to conduct a greenhouse gas assessment to identify Baileys’ total emission footprint, which was 2461 tonnes in the year to June 2019.

Baileys co-manager James Bailey said he began investigating ways for the business to reduce its impact and become more environmentally sustainable after the birth of his son Bodhi in February.

Mr Bailey said the business had also taken steps to reduce its carbon output. It uses a 70kW solar system providing about 15 per cent of its power usage and feeds into the grid on weekends. The family is also looking at options for more solar to further reduce emissions.