Back from the Dead

Posted in on 8th October 2007 by Tim Barlow

Weve been poor. Weve allowed our good intentions to slip down the priority list.

I suppose this is just one single illustration of human nature and its approach to the environment. Lets face it what we are setting out to do isnt hugely difficult. We know we can run our business with minimal environmental impact yet we still have suffered from the Well get to that tomorrow problem.

We have made some progress. We have sorted out recycling. I estimate we are doing about 60% now (as opposed to zero) but I know we can (and will) do better.

We have developed a conscience and consider the impact of what we are doing. This will inevitably have reduced our consumption but in too many cases we just feel more guilty rather than change our ways.

There is still much to do. In particular:

• Complete our Carbon Dioxide footprint audit
• Seek to reduce flights
• Improve our recycling
• Switch energy supplier (we tried but got turned down due to a contract we have with Scottish Power)
• Create our environmental policy.

So, time to get on with it.

Yahoo Going Carbon Neutral

Posted in Energy, Other on 14th June 2007 by Ed Hall

Yahoo has announced plans to go carbon neutral by the end of the year. Yahoo is planning to invest in greenhouse gas reduction projects around the world to try and do their bit for the environment. This is of importance to us, as the search engines (Google, Yahoo and MSN) are our biggest suppliers.

Read the announcement on Yahoo’s blog.

AUDIO Analysis

Posted in Other on 1st June 2007 by Ed Hall

A good bit of work to do when analysing a business’s environmental impact is to do an AUDIO analysis. This simple analysis involves looking at a general overview of the different aspects of the business.

Our business impacts on: climate change, energy, water, waste management and deforestation. Each of these impacts were then analysed with regards to: Aspects, Upstream, Downstream, Issues, Opportunities.

Aspects: How does the business impact the environment?
Upstream: How does the business’s relationship with suppliers impact the environment?
Downstream: How does the business’s relationship with its clients/customers impact the environment?
Issues: What are the problems and possible future constraints due to this environmental impact?
Opportunities: What can the business do to improve this aspect of the environmental impact? Are there opportunities here where one can do more than other businesses are doing?

Getting rid of organic waste

Posted in Recycling on 24th May 2007 by Ed Hall

At the moment, there are no organisations operating organic waste collections for businesses in Edinburgh. Edinburgh Cyrenians might offer collections in the future, but there are no immediate solutions.

One way of getting rid of our organic waste is by setting up our own compost system, and by donating compost bags to local allotments. A list of the allotments in Edinburgh can be found here.

Waste Aware Scotland offer a good range of home composting systems.

Recycling Guide is a good resource of information on composting.

Cycle Scheme

Posted in Transport on 15th May 2007 by Ed Hall

As a way of encouraging employees to travel to work in a way that least effects the environment, Cycle Scheme organises tax-free bikes for employees. There is a calculator on their website which enables you to calculate the savings that you can make.

In Edinburgh alone, there are 9 cycle shops, who are fully signed up Cyclescheme partners, and the scheme is run in accordance with the government’s green travel plan. We recommend, if you are an employer, to sign up for CycleScheme, and if you are an employee, to encourage your company to become part of this scheme.

Carbon offsetting v Renewable Energy

Posted in Energy on 14th May 2007 by Ed Hall

With carbon offsetting seemingly all the rage, we thought it would be interesting to compare the costs of offsetting our current energy usage and the cost of renewable energy.

Our last annual energy consumption was 7136 kWh. This translates to 3.07 tonnes of CO2, using the carbon calculator on carbonbalanced.org.

The cost of this electricity supplied by Scottish Power was 740.68. To offset the 3 tonnes of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere would cost 28 (on co2balance.com). erasemyfootprint.com claimed that to offset this they would need to plant 5 trees (every year), and the cost to offset this energy would be 50.

The estimate from Green Electricity Marketplace for Good Energy (our new chosen supplier) is 921 (making it only about 130 more expensive each year than our standard energy supplier and carbon offsetting).

This extra cost has to be weighed up against how effective ‘carbon offsetting’ schemes actually are. Carbon offsetting schemes include projects looking at renewable energy, bio energy using agricultural waste as fuel, and efficiency projects, which aim to conserve energy.

Here’s what the experts have to say about carbon offsetting:

Andrew Pendleton, Christian Aid’s Climate and Development analyst:
‘Once you’ve put a tonne of carbon into the atmosphere, it’s there for 100 years, so the idea that you can simply pay to take it away is erroneous. But offsetting can provide much-needed money to invest in renewable energy and clean development in poor countries to help ensure that as they develop, people in countries that are currently not great emitters of carbon don’t become so. The golden rule is that we must – as a matter of the greatest urgency – reduce our emissions rapidly and as much as we can. Offsetting is a last resort.’

Jutta Kill, climate campaigner of FERN (Forests and the European Union Resources Network):
‘Tree plantations as carbon offsets are misleading and a fake climate fix, the 21st century version of medieval indulgences. People who give money to tree-planting ‘offset’ schemes feel that they have done their bit. If we want to address climate change we must curb our carbon footprint first of all.’

Charlie Kronick, policy officer at Greenpeace:
‘If you are considering carbon offsetting don’t go for monoculture tree plantations. They are not reliable: you can’t keep track of what the benefit is and you can’t measure the effect. Locally-generated renewable energy makes people think about their energy consumption.’

Jim Peacock of the Carbon Neutral Company:
‘Carbon Offsetting is not a silver bullet for climate change, but it is part of a range of options. It helps re-price carbon and the real impact of climate change and this encourages businesses and individuals to look at how they can reduce their impacts at source whilst allowing them to take immediate action on unavoidable emissions. In the process of becoming carbon neutral, offset is the final step in a three-step process: measuring emissions; reducing emissions; offsetting emissions.’

This advice all seems to suggest that choosing renewable energy over carbon offsetting is the right choice for us.

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Resources we read

• Hugg
• Pollution.net
• Freecycle
• Green Bloggers
• Green Options
• The Good Life
• Zerofootprint
• Ecogeek
• Green Providers Directory
• Green Futures
• Green Business News