Business Carbon Footprint Reduction

It is important for all businesses to monitor their carbon footprint and reduce their emissions where possible. Providing a business is measuring their emissions, they can then learn to manage them more effectively. The management and reduction of carbon footprints can have a big impact on helping to tackle climate change. There are also opportunities to reduce your expenses and outgoings in the process. If you own or run a business and want to reduce your carbon footprint then here are some of the procedures and activities you can take to get started.Energy: Simple things such as ensuring that all lights are turned off at night will reduce the carbon footprint of any business. This also goes for shutting down monitors and other unneeded appliances that usually go unnoticed. It has been found that lighting a typical office overnight wastes enough energy to heat water for 1000 cups of tea. There are some office practices that can be brought into use, such as introducing occupancy sensors, daylight sensors and local light switches. Businesses can also switch over to green energy suppliers.Heating is another very energy intensive aspect of a business and reducing your need will reduce the carbon footprint. One way of doing this is to ensure that the heating temperature is set at the right level instead of being too hot. There are many offices today that have the windows open while the heating is on, which is an incredible waste of energy and money. Businesses should also ensure that the heating is not set to come on when the building is empty. One other way to reduce energy is to check that the radiators are free and unblocked. It is also important to have the office premises well insulated to minimize the need for extra use of heaters, while also blocking any drafts when found.There are also other ways to reduce your carbon footprint when it comes to heating. For example, keep the thermostat away from draughts or hot and cold spots, as they will affect the thermostat and automatically increase your heating costs. Don’t put hot equipment, like photocopiers, near cooling vents, as the cooling system will need to work harder to cool an area that is constantly being heated. Also, maintain your equipment properly. If you don’t regularly check your heating equipment, you could be adding as much as 10% to your heating bill without realizing it.Employee schemesThis is one of the best ways to get your employees involved in helping the business to reduce its carbon footprint. It also demonstrates leadership when you set up ecological schemes such as setting up an environmental champion group to promote energy efficiency in the office, and making tax breaks available to employees taking bike loans. Another idea is to install bike racks, showers and cloakroom facilities to make it easier for employees to walk, run or cycle to and from work. There are also some businesses that offer flexi time so parents don’t have to use the car to get their kids to school and get to work in a rush.     Another possible employee scheme could be to encourage home working, which can increase staff retention as well as save emissions.Reuse and recycleAnother very important and useful method of reducing your business carbon footprint is by reusing and recycling more. Things such as banning bins at people’s desks, or introducing recycling facilities at convenient points throughout the office will help. Also, adopt the use of recycled paper and vegetable-based inks for printing as another way to make reductions in the carbon footprint.