Why did you carry out your carbon footprint as a company?
There are several reasons why a company might want to carry out its carbon footprint:
- Becoming aware of your environmental impact : Carrying out a carbon assessment allows a company to understand the impact of its activities on the environment and to become aware of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions it generates.
- Identify Sources of GHG emissions : By carrying out a carbon assessment, a company can identify the most important sources of GHG emissions and the sectors in which it can reduce its carbon footprint.
- Measure The progress : A company can measure the effectiveness of its actions to reduce GHG emissions by carrying out regular carbon assessments.
- Reduce the costs : By reducing its GHG emissions, a business can also reduce its energy and fuel costs.
- Improve sound branding : Businesses that take steps to reduce their carbon footprint can improve their brand image with consumers and stakeholders, which can lead to increased sales and customer retention.
In summary, carrying out a carbon assessment is a useful tool for businesses that want to understand their environmental impact and take steps to reduce their GHG emissions, while enjoying economic and reputational benefits.
Reduce your energy consumption
By paying attention to daily life, businesses can slightly reduce their energy consumption And so their impact on the climate :
- Turn off the lights when leaving the office at night
- Lower the heating or air conditioning slightly
- Switch off sockets when not in use
- Renovation of buildings according to the latest environmental standards
- Isolate the premises to comply with thermal regulations
- Do not open doors or windows when the air conditioning/heating is on, close the shutters at night to avoid heat loss...
- In summer, prefer fans to air conditioners, which waste less energy, unless the temperature exceeds 26°C.
- In winter, avoid overheating the rooms and if possible.
- Implementation of energy audits of your company.
Use renewable energies
Today, more and more individuals are choosing to renewable energy, and for businesses too, it's an interesting solution. Moreover, suppliers like Mint Energie or Enercoop represent an interesting solution for using only l100% renewable energy. By avoiding fossil fuels, you significantly reduce your climate footprint.
Reducing digital-related emissions
Using the Internet, leaving electronic devices on, consumes a lot of energy, and therefore emits CO2. Small, simple actions can limit these emissions:
- Reduce the sending of emails and the number of people copied these emails
- Clean the mailbox
- Unsubscribe from newsletters you don't read
- Promote internal communication tools
- Install greener search engines (Ecosia that plants trees...)
- Close tabs that are open and that you are not using
- Develop a “Green IT” project
- Use Big Data, home automation, and the configuration of your equipment: There are now automatic switch systems for lights, heaters with thermostats that adapt automatically, home automation installations that reduce unnecessary consumption. And you can also set up your equipment correctly: install a sleep mode on your screen, reduce the brightness if it is useful, put your computer in energy saving mode if you are not using all its power...
Measuring your waste impact
In a company, we do not necessarily realize the waste we produce. But between printed papers (sometimes for nothing), coffee pods, water bottles, cups, supplies, paper towels used excessively to wipe your hands, the mass of waste ends up being significant. It is therefore necessary to analyze the impact of your waste yourself or to do it via an external service provider. You can also manage your waste thanks to the solution Environment from Symalean.
Reduce waste and fight against obsolescence
Another way to reduce sound footprint on the climate is to reduce/eliminate your waste:
- Avoid disposable cups, stirrers and capsules in the coffee machine, avoid plastic cups and other disposable cutlery.
- Buy cups or glasses.
- Remove water bottles
- Suggest water bottles and fountains
- Reduce your impressions
- Consider reusing paper as a draft
- Repair equipment when it breaks down instead of buying it back.
- Think about reuse. With the circular economy, you are reviewing your consumption pattern to limit the waste generated and optimize the use of natural resources by bringing the product and the material back to life.
Optimize the means of transport
Transport is one of the largest sectors ofGHG emissions and it is necessary to reduce its impact:
- Implementation of a more ecological fleet of vehicles (electric, hybrid, etc.) by carefully verifying production methods and properly maintaining vehicles.
- Encourage employees to take public transport (bus, train, etc.) or bicycle/electric bikes through subscriptions.
- Practice car-pooling (Organizing car-sharing groups internally is also a good way to create solidarity in the company).
- Make group orders for meals and avoid ordering at different locations.
- Buy local products and support more organic farming
Promote ecological ways of working
Some ways of working are more environmentally friendly than others:
- Promote teleworking
- Consider video conferencing that eliminates the need for employees to drive to meetings with certain customers.
- Develop flexible hours
The responsibility of your stakeholders
Each company also has a responsibility in choosing its business partners. It must choose suppliers, distributors, etc. with best environmental practices.
- Raise awareness/train employees, stakeholders and customers:
As an economic agent, the company also has a role in raising awareness among its employees, stakeholders, and consumers.
- When an initiative is put in place, it is necessary to communicate internally and externally to explain the approach. If stakeholders feel involved, they will be less resistant to change and will adopt your measures more easily.
- Learning to use your digital tools correctly: When it comes to saving energy, we don't think much about digital tools. However, there are good practices to adopt to use your computer properly.
- Train on recycling rules: Revise the recycling rules because many employees do not know them well.
- Advocating for the fight against climate change
Finally, the role of businesses is also political. If businesses are active in politics, this can lead to new environmental regulations that can have a significant impact against global warming.
The carbon balance, an approach adopted by Symalean
However, if the carbon balance is not a mandatory procedure, it constitutes an opportunity to become an active player, in the energy transition.
Only French companies with fewer than 500 employees must carry out a regulatory GHG balance (greenhouse gas emissions balance).
As a company in the digital sector, we decided to carry out our carbon balance with HelloCarbo, in order to analyze and reduce our most polluting emissions.
Find our complete carbon assessment here:
