VitalSource Goes Carbon Neutral

RALEIGH, NC – VitalSource® today announced that the company hit its environmental sustainability goal to be a carbon neutral organization for 2023 and is committed to carbon neutrality for the future.

 To better understand – and ultimately reduce – the company’s impact on the environment, VitalSource enlisted the help of experts from Watershed Technologies, a top carbon accounting company, to translate its business activities into accurate greenhouse emissions totals. VitalSource invests in clean power generation and reforestation around the world to offset its operational controllable emissions.

“Using Watershed’s audit-ready carbon footprint as a baseline, VitalSource has developed an actionable plan for reducing its environmental footprint and creating a more sustainable future for students around the world,” said Taylor Francis, co-founder of Watershed. “VitalSource’s transparency to their partners and students is an admirable example of the action needed to move the needle toward a better climate future.”

VitalSource, a recognized innovator in the digital course materials market, has benefited from obvious savings in the form of raw materials production, manufacturing, storage, and distribution of physical materials. The VitalSource Environmental Sustainability Program was developed to quantify these savings and to further reduce the impact of the remaining emissions from operating its global business and from students using digital materials. The program’s baseline calculations found that:

• VitalSource’s operational controllable emissions were 1,920 tonnes CO2e.
• Through 2023, VitalSource’s commitment to carbon neutrality (offsetting the 1,920 tonnes of carbon emissions within its control) is equal to removing 417 cars off the road.
• A student purchasing an eText through the VitalSource store reduces their carbon footprint 45x compared to a print textbook.
• As a digital company, VitalSource saves more than 2.3 million trees per year compared to what its footprint would be as a new print-only company.

“VitalSource has a long history of innovation  in the course materials industry, and we are proud to lead the way on environmental sustainability  ,” said Kent Freeman, CEO of VitalSource. “We have always valued the environmental benefits of our products and know that so many of our customers do as well. Operational carbon neutrality is the right first step towards future sustainability goals and ultimately advancing our commitment to making learning materials more accessible and affordable for all students.”

In addition to their carbon neutral initiative, VitalSource will also extend its commitment to partners and students through “Planet Smart” by offering students and institutions carbon neutral course materials. Student buyers can purchase carbon neutral course materials through the VitalSource.com store and the company’s Equitable Access (EA) course materials program, VerbaOne that takes sustainability to a new level by measuring the carbon impact of the program for each partner institution and offsetting the cost of every print and course material delivered.

“We are so excited to learn that VitalSource is going carbon neutral, and this aligns with our sustainability goals at the University of Tennessee VolShop.” said Brian Wright, director of the University of Tennessee VolShop. “Using the VitalSource platform, we are provided metrics of our digital course material program's positive environmental impact on the university. We share those numbers with our Office of Sustainability, which adds this information to their annual reporting and assists in their future emissions reduction and carbon offset goals.”

Wright added, “Our partnership with VitalSource is making our organization more relevant with students, faculty, and our administration, and we appreciate VitalSource's continued sustainability efforts to make the world a better place for us all.”

To learn more about VitalSource’s environmental sustainability program, visit www.get.vitalsource.com/environmental-sustainability. To learn more about VitalSource, visit get.vitalsource.com.

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About VitalSource®

VitalSource Technologies, LLC is the leading education technology solutions provider committed to helping partners create, deliver, and distribute affordable, accessible, and impactful learning experiences worldwide. As a recognized innovator in the digital course materials market, VitalSource is best known for partnering with more than 1,000 publishers and resellers to deliver extraordinary learning experiences to millions of active users globally—and today we’re also powering new, cutting-edge technologies designed to optimize teaching and learning for maximum results. Learn more at https://get.vitalsource.com and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.