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Hints & tips

By Eve Anderton (November 2007 Issue)
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8 tips on reducing your carbon footprint

Increased levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, predominantly from industrial and social activity, causes climate change (or global warming). Globally, electricity generation from the burning of coal, oil and gas is the biggest source of CO2 emissions, with transport, deforestation, industry and modern intensive farming methods also being major contributors.

Every day, your actions at work and at home consume energy and produce CO2 emissions. A carbon footprint is a measure of how much of an impact a human’s activity has upon the environment in terms of the amount of greenhouse gases produced – these are measured in tonnes of CO2.

As trainers, the main way in which you contribute to your carbon footprint would be through travel, but there are things that can be done!

  1. Understand your carbon footprint. Firstly, you need to know the volume of CO2 emissions you generate, and at what rate: calculate your carbon footprint so you can understand what to do about it, and where you can make the reductions. There are a number of different carbon calculators out there for businesses, for instance the World Wildlife Fund’s.
  2. Reduce the need for car travel. Car journeys can play a large role in generating emissions. Walk, cycle or use public transport, where practicable. Where car journeys are required, consider car sharing.
  3. Choose your type of car carefully. Next time you replace your car, consider alternatively fuelled models (such as hybrids) or cars with lower emissions. Also check out diesel engines: with one of these you can even make your own biodiesel fuel.
  4. Use modern technologies. Reduce the need for travelling to business meetings and conferences by using video, teleconferencing and other modern technologies.
  5. Maintain your vehicles. Not only could you choose a more fuel-efficient car, but there are also some simple basic improvements you can make – you can save 1kg of CO2, for example, in just 65 miles of driving if you keep your tyres properly inflated.
  6. Reduce the need for air travel. Air travel plays a large role in the emissions generated by a business. If possible, reduce the number of flights by using video and teleconferencing, or fly on airlines like Canada’s WestJet or the UK’s Silverjet, which offer carbon offsets.
  7. Switch off equipment. You waste electricity and CO2 by leaving electrical equipment on standby. A PC monitor left switched on overnight wastes enough energy to laser-print 800 A4 copies.
  8. Offset those carbon emissions that cannot be reduced. Carbon offsetting is a way of compensating for your carbon footprint with an equivalent CO2 saving, in order to maintain a global balance between the creation and reduction of emissions. This involves purchasing credits from emission-reduction projects that have prevented or removed the emission of an equivalent amount of CO2 elsewhere. Offset projects or providers can be externally verified against the voluntary carbon standard,
    the gold standard or, alternatively, from the regulated market, such as certified emission reduction.

Eve Anderton is principal business advisor for JPD and NQA Training, advising companies on environmental management. She can be contacted via www.jpd.co.uk or www.nqa.com

 

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