The Less Difference

Less is committed to providing a trustworthy method of reducing carbon emissions with high-quality offsets. The Less Difference ensures that businesses and individuals can purchase offsets with confidence, eliminating the risks inherent in purchasing low-quality offsets.

Gold Standard-certified
All Less offsets are sourced from Gold Standard-certified projects, a globally recognized standard endorsed by leading environmental groups including WWF International, the David Suzuki Foundation, and the Pembina Institute.

Gold Standard-certified projects are international renewable energy and energy efficiency projects that verifiably achieve GHG emission reductions at the source and create positive impacts on social networks and their local economy.

For more project information, visit our Projects page.

Independently audited
Less is the only Canadian retailer of carbon offsets that has committed to publishing an annual audit, to be conducted by an internationally recognized, independent auditor.

Published on a calendar year basis, the 2008 Less Audit will be available in April 2009. This voluntary audit is designed to verify that all offsets are derived from Gold Standard projects and are retired on behalf of Less customers to preclude double-counting of the environmental benefits. It is also designed to validate that Less has sourced sufficient offsets from Gold Standard projects to meet or exceed its contracted commitments.

EcoLogo-certified
Lessen My Flight is the only carbon offset program in Canada to earn Environment Canada’s EcoLogo certification for excellence in environmental products.

Launched in 1988, EcoLogo is North America’s oldest environmental standard-setting and certification organization. The Program has certified thousands of products in over 100 different categories.

Click here for more information about the EcoLogo Program.

UNFCCC Serialization
All Less tonnes of CO₂e emission reductions are serialized on registries established pursuant to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

By applying a serial number to each tonne of reduction, every individual tonne can be tracked by the auditors over its lifetime, preventing double counting.

The UNFCCC’s registry represents the highest standard in CO₂e emission reductions inventory management.

Less has pledged to donate 10% of its profits to organizations that support sustainability in the community.