In my opinion, a product
is only a quality product today if
its manufacture is at least CO2 neutral.
I am convinced that modern organic production
is the better way to manufacture products and offer
them to customers. Our products do not become more
expensive as a result, because the compensation of
one ton of CO2 costs us only about 3 euros. Related
to one bottle that is only a few cents!
Our CO2-clean
products are better and more sustainable
products than conventionally produced.
Dipl.-Ing. Toni Deimel
Founder and Owner of Kürbishof DEIMEL
Since 2020 we have been delivering CO2-neutral
products and parcel shipments. We reduce CO2 at
every step from the field to the customer. Currently
unavoidable CO2 emissions are compensated by local
reforestation in Styria. Since spring 2021, we have
planted nearly 5,000 trees that
absorb CO2 as they grow. We will plant 10,000 trees in the medium
term, which will more than offset our CO2 footprint.
The
production of a food product leads to CO2 emissions.
Styrian pumpkin seed oil also has a CO2 footprint.
The CO2-emission is caused by the cultivation of
pumpkin seeds, the production of pumpkin seed oil,
the packaging and the transport of the products.
In the following I will list our measures for all
production steps from the field to the customer. I
mention the direct measures that lead to a reduction
in CO2. Unavoidable CO2 is compensated by
reforestation. |
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Pumpkin seed cultivation and harvest |
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CO2 is
produced by the use of tractors in cultivation and
harvesting and by the use of fertilisers and
pesticides. Savings result from the planned use of
resources. However, the possibilities for saving CO2
are limited. We therefore compensate for CO2
emissions through reforestation measures. |
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Pumpkin seed drying |
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Before pumpkin seeds can be stored, the moist
pumpkin seeds must be washed and dried. For drying
it requires considerable amounts of heat energy.
This energy is provided by burning wood chips. This
creates a CO2-neutral circulation system for the
drying process. |
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Storage |
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We store
pumpkin seeds in a cold storage until they are used.
The electricity for the cold storage comes from 100%
renewable energies. The CO2 content of the product
is low. |
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Oil pressing |
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For the oil
pressing of Styrian pumpkin seed oil large amounts
of heat and electricity are necessary. Since many
years the heat is produced by wood firing. We also
use a CO2-neutral circulation system here. The
electricity comes mainly from renewable energies. In
Styria, a large proportion is generated by
hydropower. |
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Filling and packaging |
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Packaging
makes up a significant proportion of the CO2
footprint of products. The smaller the container,
the greater the packaging share in the product. We
offer the 1000 ml glass bottle and a 500 ml
lightweight tinplate container. Tinplate has a lower
CO2 footprint than glass. It also saves transport
weight. The energy requirement of the oil filling by
electricity is low. |
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Packaging and transport |
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For our customers in Germany we send our pumpkin
seed oil with pallets to the dispatch warehouse in
Germany. By developing a transport system made of
wood we avoid any use of plastic foils to secure the
goods on the pallet. By good production planning we
avoid unnecessary transports and use transport
capacities optimally. |
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Package filling |
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By carefully
and tightly filling the parcels, we save packaging
material and transport volume. Our packaging work is
thus higher, but less packaging waste is produced by
the customer. |
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Filling material |
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No plastic! We use organic flakes from cornstarch.
These are compostable and can be disposed of in
organic waste. |
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Packing tapes and paper |
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We use paper and avoid plastic tapes.
The printer paper is made from waste paper. |
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Materials |
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All materials
in the package should be edible or recyclable. |
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Parcel delivery |
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Parcel service
providers such as HERMES and DHL have CO2 reduction
and compensation programmes. However, these are not
enough for us, we compensate with our own trees. |
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Tips for CO2 reduction with orders |
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If you would
also like to contribute to CO2 reduction, we have
these tips for you. Rather order on stock per order,
so you can reduce the number of orders. Pumpkin seed
oil has a good shelf life. Ideal are collective
orders. A large package has a lower CO2 footprint
than many small ones. Rather prefer bigger packages
like the one-litre bottle and light packages, this
saves packaging material. |
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