Visit us at BiS Expo (28th April) and Innovation Zero (29/30th April)
Visit us at BiS Expo (28th April) and Innovation Zero (29/30th April)
Reducing your business’s carbon footprint doesn’t need to be daunting! You’ve already completed step one by taking the time to find and click on this blog post. So, allow us here at 5D Net Zero to tell you exactly how to achieve it – in this post, we’re going to provide you with the 7 best ways to reduce your business’s carbon footprint.
1. Identify your highest sources of emissions
Identifying your business’s highest source of emissions is actually easier than you might think… One of the best places to start is by using a free online calculator. This will give you a top level understanding of your emissions sources but has many limitations. GHG protocol says: An accurate and useful inventory can only be developed after careful attention to quality control issues and to the activity data required.
By no means does a calculator give you a thorough analysis or offer you effective ways to reduce your carbon footprint and approach net zero – that’s where we come in! But, an online calculator is a brilliant place to start.
There are a lot of calculators out there, but a couple of the best and most user-friendly ones are:
1. SME Climate Hub – https://smeclimatehub.org/start-measuring/
2. Nat West – https://www.natwest.com/banking-with-natwest/natwest-app/features/carbon-footprint-calculator.html
We’ll be here waiting for when you’re up for discussing your calculator results further. Book a discovery call here.
2. Renewable energy tariffs
Let’s start by quickly explaining what renewable energy tariffs are. If an energy tariff is labelled ‘Green’, it likely matches the energy you’re purchasing with renewable energy, but it’s always important to do your research and find out specific sources of energy on your tariff. You also get tariffs with a variety of different percentages – some are 100% renewable, whereas others can use a mixture of renewable & non-renewable.
Ofgem, the UK’s energy regulator, have been working to increase the clarity of green deals. This is making it easier for people to understand which tariffs are using 100% renewable energy and which one’s aren’t.
So, how do you switch? We recommend heading over to a comparison site such as Go Compare where you can get some quotes. All you have to do is enter your postcode, compare tariffs, and pick a deal.
3. Follow the travel hierarchy
Now, you don’t have to give up your combustion engine if you don’t want to, but following the sustainable travel hierarchy is a seriously effective way of reducing your carbon footprint. What are the best ways to travel I hear you ask, take a look at our handy infographic below:
A relatively self-explanatory point here, but small changes can make a world of difference. Do you drive? Is there public transport available? Why not explore switching to an EV? Do you or any of your staff have a relatively short commute? You could think about implementing a cycle-to-work scheme for your team.
To encourage staff staff: make workplaces more conducive to low emissions travel, including accessibility to on-site changing facilities, EV charging, education e.g. about carpooling and the schemes you suggest.
4. Work from home
Something that became very popular during the coronavirus pandemic, working from home. Where possible, this is a brilliant way of holding meetings virtually instead of driving to locations to meet with colleagues.
Some benefits are:
– Reduced commuting
– Reduced office energy consumption
– Reduced waste
However there are some challenges to making WFH more environmentally beneficial, such as:
– Non-commute travel during the working day
– Supply chain emissions like companies providing equipment and having them shipped to home addresses.
– Digital behaviours: Employees are more likely to message on programs like Teams and Slack more from home, thus increasing their digital footprint.
On the whole though, it’s seen that the benefits of WFH outweigh the cons.
5. Engage with your supply chain
Another effective tool in reducing your business’s carbon footprint is to begin building a greener supply chain. Your supply chain is part of your Scope 3 emissions, and for the majority of companies, Scope 3 makes up the largest source of emissions (they are 11.4x larger than direct emissions on average), so it’s important to start making changes where you can.
These efforts can be related to implementing supply codes of conduct for your business, and not taking on corporate contracts unless the company you’re working with are making an attempt to reduce their carbon footprint.
You conduct a Scope 3 carbon footprint to find the highest sources of emissions. This creates transparency for you to build an emissions baseline and share data with suppliers and set ambitious targets, as well as offering you the ability to publicly report.
6. Educate your staff on the climate crisis
Integrating climate awareness into your company culture is not only important in an educational sense, but can help the people you work closest with become aware of their actions and naturally people will start showing an interest.
And remember, the internet is your friend! If you’re wanting stats and statistics to remind your staff of the specific areas of carbon emissions that are relevant to your company, there’s so much information online. Also, having 5D Net Zero complete a Carbon Footprint report for your business will give you all you need to present to your staff.
We can provide this in a PowerPoint style format which you could present to your own staff once we’ve presented it to you! We can also offer your business training sessions and workshops in order to educate you and your staff in a digestible and friendly format. Have an initial call with us today to find out how we can help!
7. Get independent advice & plans!
This is where 5D Net Zero come in. Shameless plug, we know! But we really can offer you the bespoke help you need, tailored entirely to you and your business, in a good old-fashioned consultancy style.
First things first, let’s start with a short Discovery Call so that our friendly team can understand exactly what you need. We can support you wherever you are on your sustainability journey; whether that is just getting started, tendering with confidence, or instilling sustainable business in every step of your operations.
The team here at 5D hope you’ve found this blog informative, and if there’s any way we can help you, please do get in touch! We’d love to hear from you.
