How do products move around the world? Mostly on the humble EuroPallet. To move these pallets between ports and between airports creates C02 emissions the world can do without! Shrub wants to do its part to change this. Here's how
Currently, 95% of goods traded between France and the UK are transported by lorry on ferries between Dover and Calais. A pallet on a ferry emits an average of 4kg of CO2 during its journey.
135,000 pallets cross the Channel every day, which amounts to around 200,000 tonnes of CO2 per year. There has to be another way, and we've got it - it's through Newhaven (Sussex) and it's just waiting to grow!
The solution. The Challengers
This coming October 2024 a Franco-British team consisting of Groupe Développement Normandie, Comptoirs de Normandie, Orée Transport, Tompsetts Transport, Newhaven Enterprise Zone, Département de la Seine Maritime, Secrétariat d’État chargé de la Mer et de la Biodiversité, Newhaven Port and Properties and Shrub have organised a tall ship to start moving low carbon pallets between Newhaven Port (Sussex) and Le Tréport (Region Normandy), under sail, 3 times a week using less carbon (with a little engine power used to manoeuvre safely in the two ports.)
Climate change has many downsides. But stronger winds means more power to sail power! Imagine seeing this beautiful ship on the horizon three times a week off the Coast of Sussex!
The vessel we have chartered is capable of carrying 66 pallets each way which is the equivalent of taking two truck loads of pallets off the C02 emitting ferry. It's a great start. In fact the team started this movement in the middle of COVID and ran a pallet of Sussex and Normandy products successfully between the two ports to show all was possible. Now we are scaling up and are being the change we want to see!
One of the first low carbon pallets we will be moving across the Channel (La Manche) is a crowdfunded one. This way we are championing the route as well as giving UK donors a taste of local Normandy products! You can also sponsor a palette to help us to bring more across the Channel!
These beautiful products have been sourced by Normandy based Comptoirs de Normandie and can ONLY be claimed through Shrub, via one for their distribution points, once shipped across the English Channel in Brighton or London.
Your donation will pay for the product and contribute to the wider project costs needed to get more pallets across the channel in this way.
Whats next?
Thanks for backing the first ever green shipping corridor between the UK and France! Future plans are to increase the flow of products and pallets. There are two distinct markets in the movement of pallets.
- Ethical products ethically moved
- Products ethically moved
There are an estimated 5 billion pallets in the logistics system right now. We have work to do to show there is another way.
But first things first! With a fair wind and your support lets go!