Babble Buster: What is net zero?

We’ve all heard the term net-zero by now, with the UK Government’s 2050 target looming – but what exactly does it mean?

Let’s define it together

According to the National Grid, Net-Zero in a nutshell is the “balance between the amount of greenhouse gas produced and the amount removed from the atmosphere. We reach net-zero when the amount we add is no more than the amount taken away”.

Let’s simplify this a bit. Think about a bath – turn on the taps and fill it up with water. If you pull out the plug, the water flows out.

The amount of water in the bath depends on both the taps and the plughole – input and output basically. Want to keep the bath water at the same level. You’d need to make sure that the flow from the taps matched the rate at with the plughole was draining.

The same principle applies to emissions

Reaching net-zero applies the same principal, requiring us to ensure that our greenhouse gas emissions are balanced with the amount we remove. When that is achieved, it means we have reached net-zero.

You might hear this referred to as carbon neutral; although zero carbon and zero emissions are slightly different, they both usually mean that no emissions were produced in the first place.

Tackling climate change should be at the top of everyone’s agenda, countries, companies and individual alike. The Net-Zero goal will help push this forward and bring some much-needed change to the world.

We can all take actions, big or small, to combat climate change. It doesn’t matter how small you start, all that matters is that you do. With your Home Club membership, you’re already off to a great start. Why not browse our range of planet-saving products for your home and see what swap you can make next!