How big is your carbon footprint?

Save money and cut back on budgets are probably some of the rather sobering words we’ve all been hearing of late. However, thanks to a recent standard that has been launched, you can now assess your carbon footprint, discover ways of reducing it and start saving money, as Vesna Siljanovska finds out

The BSI British Standards, the Carbon Trust and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) have recently launched a new standard to help businesses assess the carbon footprint of their goods and services. The standard, which is called PAS 2050, will enable businesses to count the greenhouse gas emissions in their goods and services.

The Carbon Trust has already piloted PAS 2050 with 75 product ranges across numerous companies such as Innocent who, by working with one of its suppliers, identified ways in which it could increase the amount of recycled waste. In the first month waste to landfill was reduced by 15 per cent, and within six months the reduction reached 54 per cent.

Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said: “Companies have said they want to be able to count their carbon emissions in a better way, so we have responded. By looking at where the emissions are being created and reducing them, businesses can also save themselves money.”

As a result of PAS 2050, Boots redesigned its logistics network so that products could be delivered directly to stores, reducing road miles and packaging. This alone has reduced its carbon footprint by 10 per cent.
In challenging economic times, reducing carbon emissions is a way of saving costs and there are many initiatives that companies should consider implementing. Lasertech UK, for example, revealed how it had a particular franchisee who introduced green days: “They emailed customers within a territory to say that they’ll be delivering to a particular post code area on a particular day,” said Justin Williams Sales Director at Lasertech UK. He added: “It is reducing their carbon footprint and their costs.”

Lasertech UK also runs a recycling programme. Justin added: “Laser toner cartridges disposed of each year in the UK account for thousands of tonnes of waste plastic and metal. The plastic used in each printer cartridge is estimated to take 1,000 years to decompose.” Therefore, Lasertech UK, arranges to collect the used cartridges from customers to ensure that they
are recycled.

Furthermore, Lasertech UK also works with schools through its Coll Footprint campaign, whereby it assists schools in reducing their carbon emissions.

Justin commented: “The website has lots of information for schools where they can read information and bring in awareness about their carbon footprint and carbon emissions – it is a helpful way of spreading the word!”
The message is simple: reducing your carbon footprint will reduce the cost of running a business. There are a number of small steps that can be made: turn off appliances when they are not being used; encourage recycling; and, if your business is involved in making deliveries, why not reconsider how your delivery network operates as demonstrated by Lasertech UK and Boots. You’ll not only reduce your carbon footprint, you’ll also be saving your pennies!

For a full copy of the Publicly Available Specification (PAS) 2050 visit www.bsigroup.com/pas2050.

For further information and guidance on reducing your carbon emissions visit the Carbon Trust’s Carbon Reduction Label site on www.carbon-label.com