A CARLISLE IT firm is living up to its name by pledging to offset its carbon emissions by planting trees.

Integrity IT Solutions is led by managing director Andrew Fisher and it will plant a tree for every £5,000 of turnover.

He said: “Integrity has grown to become one of the largest independent IT support providers in Cumbria.

“As such, we feel that it is just as important for us to lead the way in our efforts against climate change.”

The firm, based at Rosehill Industrial Estate, said that data centres already consume around three per cent of all globally generated power and account for about two per cent of greenhouse gas emissions – a carbon footprint equivalent to the current airline industry.

These figures are expected to grow and Integrity wants to make sure it is addressing the issue.

Its scheme will mean an extra 300 trees planted in the county a year.

Stephen Whelan, technical manager, added: “We want this initiative to have a direct impact for our region, so we will plant the trees locally, rather than simply contributing to a carbon offsetting scheme. Each tree helps to offset the environmental impact of the servers and data centres used to run the IT services we provide.”

Integrity has also revealed its intention to become carbon neutral by 2024.

It has already incorporated ‘green computing’ practices such as power management, virtualisation and recycling into their own business operations and is in the process of replacing one of its diesel vans with a zero emissions electric vehicle.

It also partners with a recycling facility for its equipment, instead of sending it to landfill.