You undoubtedly make an effort in your personal life to lessen your carbon footprint, whether it be by travelling less, eating more locally, consuming less meat, preventing food waste, switching to a vegan diet, purchasing products made from sustainably sourced materials, favouring public transportation, cycling to work, purchasing an electric vehicle, or bringing your own bag to the grocery store.
But frequently, the carbon footprint of our professional activities might be far greater than that of our personal life. Therefore, the question is: How can carbon footprint be reduced? Better: What steps can you do to lessen your overall carbon impact and combat climate change?
What are the benefits of reducing my business’s carbon footprint?
Working to reduce your company's carbon emissions will help make the world a healthier, more sustainable place. Preventing adverse effects of climate change, such as harsh weather, is more vital. And while the majority of people are aware that action must be taken to combat climate change and global warming, it can be challenging for businesses to emphasise decreased carbon dioxide emissions as a point of focus.
But there are numerous reasons—many of which have nothing to do with protecting the environment—to begin considering your company's carbon footprint.
🤝Your customers
Customers are looking for brands that are more socially and environmentally conscientious. According to a 2020 IBM analysis, approximately 6/10 consumers would change their purchasing patterns to reduce emissions and environmental effect, and more than 7/10 consumers believe it is crucial that brands are environmentally conscious and sustainable.
👥Your team
A solid strategy to draw younger talent is to make a commitment to lowering your carbon footprint (or perhaps becoming net zero). 90% of millennials are willing to take a pay cut to work for a company whose principles align with their own. Additionally, organisations with a purpose are 40% more likely to keep their current personnel. Climate action and carbon footprint targets are excellent for your business if you are worried about attracting and retaining top talent.
💰Your finances
Going green can improve your bottom line even though reducing your greenhouse gas emissions might not seem like a way to reduce operating expenses and save money. If you weren't concerned about your carbon impact, you might not have seen financial gains from switching to energy efficiency, examining your suppliers, and changing how your business functions. Contrary to common belief, becoming green doesn't always entail spending more money.
🤝 Three steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
Starting can seem intimidating, but we have a straightforward three-step approach that will lead you through the entire process. You may easily lower your carbon footprint thanks to this.
Measure
Identifying the precise size of your greenhouse gas emissions is the first step in reducing your carbon footprint. In actuality, footprint measuring not only informs you of the amount of carbon you are accountable for, but also of the activities that contribute to what proportion of your carbon emissions. This level of specificity is essential for the following stage since it is impossible to know where to start without knowing which activities are responsible for the majority of your greenhouse gas emissions.
Reduce
The action starts to pick up at this point. You may start setting specific and quantifiable goals for lowering your average carbon footprint once you have data that shows which company activities are the main contributors to it. You can also establish a plan for what you'll tackle first.
This is an excellent place to start on your journey toward sustainability: finding quick, easy strategies to significantly reduce your carbon footprint. It produces quantifiable outcomes rapidly, creating momentum and raising team morale. Once you've had some success, you might consider establishing longer-term objectives for cutting (and even even neutralising) your greenhouse gas emissions.
Offset
Of course, emitting no carbon is impossible. Even you, who are theoretically a net-zero emitter of carbon, release it just by breathing. But if you've done everything you can (or even if you haven't but are working toward it), what else can you do to lessen the impact of your company on climate change? This is what many businesses want to know.
Offsetting is the solution, which entails making investments in initiatives that lessen the amount of carbon that is released into the environment in order to make up for your company's carbon emissions (more on this below). To put it another way, you should purchase carbon offsets.
Step 1: Measuring your business’s carbon footprint
Internally calculating your carbon footprint
Internal carbon footprint calculations can be challenging and time-consuming. In most cases, you'd need to hire a specialised carbon accountant or even a team of carbon accountants, which can get expensive very quickly. Try Greenly's free carbon footprint calculator if you're just looking for a ballpark estimate of your greenhouse gas emissions.
Using a third party to estimate your carbon impact
Some businesses choose to employ environmental consulting organisations to assist them in calculating and lowering their carbon dioxide emissions. While this may offer more flexibility than hiring a team, it doesn't allow your business as much control over your metrics and roadmaps.
Using a digital carbon footprint calculator
Going digital is a third option. With the help of a digital platform for carbon accounting like Greenly, you can accurately calculate your carbon footprint and receive real-time insights on areas where you can cut your greenhouse gas emissions, as well as customised action plans and assistance from climate experts as you work toward net zero emissions.
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