Amsterdam-based CarbonCancel, a company that helped offset carbon footprint, shuts shop: Know more

Amsterdam-based CarbonCancel has shut shop. A company that provided insight into CO2 emissions, stimulated behavioural change and offered an accessible path to a carbon-neutral existence, announced in a LinkedIn post in May 2022 that it is shutting down ‘after three “great” years’.

Initially, CarbonCancel was a school assignment of four young entrepreneurs who wanted to tackle the big societal problems of our generation – carbon emissions. Founders Julian Swinkels, Ruben V., Falko Lavitt, and Raúl van Kleef wanted to give everyone the possibility to live a carbon-neutral life.

The company helped consumers control their carbon emissions by encouraging them to make environmentally friendly decisions. It also offered them discounts on sustainable goods. CarbonCancel also created an accurate calculator that took an individual’s lifestyle into account, a feature that the majority of carbon calculators do not offer.

Why did the company shut down?

The company mentioned in the blog post that large aspirations and limited time are the primary causes why the company had to be shut down.

“We have many big ideas about what CarbonCancel should be, and how it should develop. Moreover, we have high standards of our own service. CarbonCancel started as a student project. Now, all of us have started working. This means our efforts are increasingly divided. Over the past months, it has become clear to us that we can no longer reconcile our ambitions and standards for CarbonCancel with the time it takes to develop and maintain it. Rather than reducing the quality of our service, we have decided to quit while we’re ahead,” read the blog.

The monthly subscription of customers automatically came to an end on May 31, 2022.The company mentioned in the post that till cancellation, it will manage to offset over 150 per cent of its users’ carbon footprint. 

CarbonCancel’s achievements

In the time that the company was operational, it claims to have cancelled over 1.5 million kgs of CO2 emissions; realised five development projects ranging from forestry to hydropower, and from Chile to Sumatra; and, has helped over 1500 people calculate their footprint.

The founders mentioned in the blog, “We can imagine you’re still as much of a climate champion as when you joined CarbonCancel. So are we! If you want to continue cancelling your footprint, we recommend Trees for All, ClimateHero and Klima as alternative services. We know this market well, and these organisations stand out for their quality and user-friendliness.”