We’d all love to live a more ethical life where our impact on the planet is greatly reduced and our carbon footprint is as small as it can be…but here’s something controversial…planting trees is not the answer.
If everyone “offset” their carbon footprint by planting trees we would quickly run out of space on this planet. We need to actively reduce our carbon footprint instead.
But where to start?
Calculating your carbon is separated into 3 scope areas. The easiest ones to look at first are your owned fuel consumers e.g. your car and other vehicles and any furnaces/ boilers you have control over (e.g. not connected to the mains grid). Think about changing your furnace/boiler fuel to biofuel if it’s an easy swap and is now the time to buy that electric car? Only make these changes if either your boiler is naturally coming to the end of it’s life anyway or you easily swap fuels for the same boiler etc. The same goes for a new car – do you need a new car? It’s easy to think you’re doing good just by buying a new more eco friendly version but buying new will increase your carbon footprint as these products have a carbon cost to produce. It’s always going to be a weigh up you need to seriously think about before making any of these changes.
Second is to look at your purchased energy, so your mains gas and electricity. There are a lot of green tariff electricity suppliers out there and in the UK we even have a vegan accredited 100% renewable electricity supplier, Ecotricity (guess who my supplier is!). Find out if your current supplier has a green tariff or use one of the many comparison sites to check out who does. Making this switch is usually quite painless but can make a huge difference to your carbon footprint.
Ask yourself which you would prefer to see on your website “we offset our carbon by planting trees” or “we actively reduce our carbon footprint”
If you’d like to know more about being a more ethical, responsible and environmentally friendly business please do get in touch.
Email me or head on over to WORK WITH ME to book a call or ethical consultancy session with me