AN OXFORD acupuncturist has claimed his practice is the first in the world to become ‘carbon positive’.

Joe Jennings, from Holistic Health Oxford, carried out a greenhouse gas emissions report for 2019, following government guidelines to see how much damage his business was going to the environment.

He discovered it was responsible for the equivalent of half a tonne of carbon dioxide emissions over the course of the year and he set out to offset that and more.

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Mr Jennings explained: “Climate breakdown is a huge concern for me.

“I want to see policies emerge to match the level of emergency, but I thought I should also do my part and drive change where I can. Especially since having a child a few weeks back.”

The majority of the emissions – 42 per cent –were from the products used, mainly herbal powders, closely followed by acupuncture needles.

The emissions from herbal products included the farming and processing as well as the distribution and packaging, with emissions from needles resulting from the extraction of the raw materials, processing, packaging and distribution.

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In total, 189kg of CO2 emissions came from the products and tools used over the year, 154kg from the energy used and 105kg from travel.

The business owner said: “I found the process of assessing my emissions really interesting and was amazed at the results.

“We pledge to be carbon positive, always. And I will push my peers and suppliers to follow suit.”

Holistic Health Oxford off-set a tonne of CO2 to become carbon positive.

This was achieved through setting targets for carbon reduction in travel but Mr Jennings said reductions in product use would be much harder to achieve as medical products need be hygienically made and safely disposed of, which means extra packaging.

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He said: “So, until this area is made more of a priority at a higher level, and laws and industry innovate to make safe and sustainable medical products, off-setting will remain an important part of being a carbon positive acupuncture practice.”

This was achieved by donating through Goldstandard.org, where people can give money towards green projects around the world designed to help the environment.

In Holistic Health’s case the funding went to planting biodiverse forests in Panama.

Mr Jennings said: “My hope is that all acupuncturists will be carbon neutral, or positive, by 2030. I plan on doing my part to help this transition. I have submitted a guide to becoming carbon neutral to a professional publication, which I hope will be in the next edition to help other practitioners.”

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Holistic Health Oxford runs low-cost community acupuncture clinics and private clinics across Oxfordshire.

Acupuncture is a treatment derived from ancient Chinese medicine were fine needles are inserted at certain sites in the body for therapeutic purposes.

It is used in many NHS GP practices, as well as in most pain clinics and hospices in the UK, though there is no scientific consensus on its efficacy.