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Posts Tagged ‘carbon footprint’

While most of the coverage of ‘green’ issues in the media and in environmental campaigns tends to focus on how an individual can promote a more eco-friendly lifestyle, arguably the biggest impact on the environment can be achieved by businesses and corporations addressing these issues. In this post I explore how a business can actually achieve environmental targets by keeping accurate records of their fixed assets – ie equipment, machinery, vehicles etc – and their carbon footprints.

Fixed asset management has many advantages. It allows your organisation to manage internal and external service providers to reduce administrative costs associated with asset maintenance and repairs. Software-based systems can capture data adrift in paper-based processes and provide asset-specific total cost of ownership information that can be analysed at a corporate level. However another dimension has been added that makes reliable asset management programmes even more essential. Whether you agree with the theory of man-made global warming or not, the UK government has decided to adopt a target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80% over 1990 levels by the year 2050.

Image credit: johnb/uk

The Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) requires that companies must achieve energy efficiencies (or purchase allowances from the government) based on the amount of CO2 emitted. Companies that achieve significant reductions will be rewarded financially. Those that do not will suffer the consequences. Carbon taxes will inevitably become more significant mechanisms for the Exchequer and there’s likely to be an increasing emphasis on enforcing regulations governing the collection, treatment and recycling of all sorts of waste, especially electrical and electronic equipment as specified by the WEEE directive. The Carbon Reduction Commitment will affect approximately 20,000 organisations in the public and private sectors and the Environment Agency requires disclosures to be submitted by those companies by the summer of 2010.

Sustainable environmental management is not only concerned with supply chain resource or carbon emissions management. It also addresses the wider issues of sustainable planning and design, waste reduction, water management, the efficiency of electronic and electrical equipment etc. All these facets of business operations are inputs into an organisation’s environmental impact and ultimately its bottom line. From a sales and marketing point of view, companies are also going to have to prove their “green credentials” to consumers and who are increasingly demanding that green tinge of virtually every product or service. Doing all this will create a significant cost for business, unless they get their fixed asset register in order. Organisations now have to prove their commitment to green issues through information transparency and fully auditable policies.

At the core of this approach has to be consistent and detailed information about the life cycle of all fixed assets, from country of origin, maintenance schedules and carbon efficiency to final disposal details. A good, up to date central asset register therefore will not only streamline year end audits but will also provide highly detailed insight into corporate assets that will enable management to make more informed decisions. Until you truly know what assets you’ve got, which you own and the real operational/ownership cost of those assets, managers cannot make informed decisions about capital expenditure, carbon footprint reduction and how to “green” the business in the most cost effective and beneficial way possible.

About the author:
Tom is a blogger currently working for a company specialising in software for asset tracking and fixed asset accounting. He passionately believes that businesses can go greener at the same time as cutting costs.

To say that the staging the Winter Olympics is a monumental task is a lot like saying the Pacific Ocean is a pretty big body of water. The 2010 Olympic games in Vancouver/Whistler required massive building and renovating of new and existing structures and infrastructure. Along with all of these colossal undertakings, there was also the need to find ways of moving large crowds and staff safely and efficiently from one venue to the next without leaving a King Kong-sized carbon footprint. Here are the top five of the many green initiatives employed by the organizers and sponsors of the games.

5. Have A Coke And A Smile

Coca-Cola set up a waste diversion program to ensure that 95% of waste generated during the games wound up in recycling plants and not landfills. Bottles, shrink wrap and cardboard trays will be recycled and reused, sparing the city a huge influx of excess waste courtesy of the thousands of tourists flocking to the city to cheer on their athletes.

4. Generator Nix

A large number of diesel generators were usually kept on hand during past Olympic games sites in case of emergency. As it was imperative that the generators be ready to be put into place at a moment’s notice, they were usually kept idling until needed, polluting the air and burning fuel. The solution to this problem came courtesy of BC Hydro and two underground power lines, one of which served as a back up in case of a power loss in the main trunk. With a switching system, power could be diverted from one trunk to the next almost instantly.

3. On The Road

Even before the games officially got under way, steps were taken to reduce the carbon footprint of the torch relay across Canada and the rest of the world. Through use of recycled materials and making smart, green transportation choices in moving staff and volunteers from one spot to the next, this green approach produced an energy efficient relay that was good for the planet. Also energy efficient skytrain systems were expanded along with hybrid taxis brought into service to help shuttle people about.

2. Village, People

The Olympic Village, called Millennium Water, is a shining example of sustainability. Half of the buildings have green roofs which cut down on the cost of heating and cooling the 200 units in each of the buildings spread over 9 blocks. Also the US Green Building Council is expected to give the Olympic Village a LEED gold certificate for the green initiatives utilized in the facilities.

1. Used Medals?

Were you aware that the Olympic medals are made from recycled end-of-life electronics? And by making the medals some of the heaviest ever distributed at the games, more recycled material was kept out of landfills and instead was transformed into one of a kind works of art. Each medal is unique but the sustaining initiatives employed to create them hopefully aren’t.

Andrew Salmon is a freelance writer. He writes on a variety of financial topics such as universal life insurance policies.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Vancouver using recycled metals for medals (guardian.co.uk)
• Coca-Cola Canada Opens Happiness at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games (newswire.ca)
• Winter Olympic medals: Gold, silver bronze and green (businessgreen.com)
• Winter Olympic Medals Made From Recycled E-Waste (huffingtonpost.com)

The 'Go Green' Campaign by IBM

You can’t move these days without hearing about how you can cut your CO2 emissions in your home, with ad campaigns, government policies and constant news coverage. An army of newly-enlisted eco-warriors are going about switching to energy saving bulbs, insulating their lofts and stopping putting their TVs on standby.  That’s all well and good, but carbon emissions from individuals is just a tiny piece of the pie.  The fact is that the majority of the world’s carbon footprint comes from businesses, offices and workplaces.It’s like an economy of scale – if you change a small thing within a big company you can see tremendous results.

Yes, I hear you say. I don’t have any control over that. That’s the job of my boss, and my boss’s boss – nothing to do with me. But that’s just not the case. If you have a job, you can affect your company’s carbon emissions.  And it can make a much bigger difference than the things you do at home.

Here are some pointers, small and large, on achieving a greener workplace:

1. Recycle office waste. Offices throw out a huge volume of paper and other recyclable waste every week – much more than any family could manage. Why not try bringing in recycle containers in accessible locations. There are local government schemes that can help you get these in place.
2. Drive less to work. Emissions from car exhausts are so harmful, and they can be cut by starting a fairly simple car pooling system. Or just cut out the car altogether – consider cycling or walking to work.
3. Switch to energy saving lightbulbs. Changing a couple of bulbs at home saves only a tiny bit of energy. But multiply that by all the bulbs lighting up your office and you can see how powerful a change this could make.
4. Eco-Friendly Computers. The energy usage of IT systems is huge for the majority of companies and organisations. Just a simple thing like making sure you switch off your monitor after work can be hugely effective. Why leave it there, though – for real results, get on to your IT manager about reviewing the company’s “green baseline”. Get them to perform some proper asset tracking on all office IT equipment, using professional asset management software, a business can dramatically reduce its carbon footprint and help meet increasingly stringent government environmental requirements.
5. Campaigning. Move from baby steps to giant leaps. Get like-minded colleagues together to run green campaigns and the real revolution begins.We little guys can really make a difference by putting pressure on the managers to take their environmental duties seriously. A lot of the time going green also saves the company some green, as the IBM ad shows brilliantly.Many companies are involved in using corporate vehicles in some way, from company cars to global freighting of goods, and this is a huge source of carbon emissions. Pushing them to properly review their transport and logistics management and make the smallest of improvements can save them big money and dramatically reduce their carbon footprint in the process.

These ideas are just the beginning. This article was primarly aimed at getting your juices flowing about this issue. I look forward to hearing your thoughts!