Why should your company carry out a carbon audit?
There are several reasons why a company might want to carry out a carbon footprint:
- Awareness of its environmental impact : Carrying out a carbon footprint assessment enables 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 footprint, a company can identify the most significant sources of GHG emissions and the areas in which it can reduce its carbon footprint.
- Measuring progress: A company can measure the effectiveness of its actions to reduce GHG emissions by carrying out regular carbon audits.
- Reduce costs : By reducing GHG emissions, a company can also reduce its energy and fuel costs.
- Improve brand image : Companies 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 loyalty.
In short, carrying out a carbon footprint is a useful tool for companies wishing to understand their environmental impact and take steps to reduce their GHG emissions, while enjoying economic and reputational benefits.
Reduce your energy consumption
By taking care in their day-to-day operations, companies can slightly reduce their energy consumption and thus their impact on the climate:
- Turn off the lights when you leave the office at night
- Slightly reduce heating or air conditioning
- Switch off plugs when not in use
- Renovation of buildings to the latest environmental standards
- Insulate premises to comply with thermal regulations
- Don't open doors or windows when the air conditioning/heating system is on, and close shutters at night to prevent heat loss...
- In summer, fans are preferable to air conditioners, which are less wasteful of energy, unless the temperature exceeds 26°C.
- In winter, avoid overheating rooms if possible.
- Setting up energy audits for your company.
Use renewable energies
Today, more and more individuals are opting for renewable energy, and it's an attractive option for businesses too. Suppliers such as Mint Energie or Enercoop offer an interesting solution for using only100% renewable energy. By avoiding fossil fuels, you significantly reduce your impact on the climate.
Reducing digital emissions
Using the Internet, leaving electronic devices switched on, all consume enormous amounts of energy, and therefore emit CO2. Small, simple gestures can help limit these emissions:
- Reduce the number of e-mails sent and the number of people copied.
- Clean up your mailbox
- Unsubscribe from newsletters you don't read
- Promote internal communication tools
- Install greener search engines (Ecosia plants trees...)
- Close tabs that are open and not in use
- Develop a "Green IT" project
- Use Big Data, home automation and equipment settings: there are now automatic switch systems for lights, heating systems with thermostats that adapt automatically, and home automation systems that reduce unnecessary consumption. And you can also set your equipment correctly: install a sleep mode on your screen, reduce the brightness if it's useful, put your computer in energy-saving mode if you're not using all its power...
Measuring your waste impact
In a company, you don't necessarily realize how much waste you produce. But between printed paper (sometimes for nothing), coffee pods, water bottles, cups, supplies, paper towels used excessively to wipe hands, the mass of waste ends up being significant. So it's a good idea to analyze the impact of your waste yourself, or have it done by an external service provider. You can manage your waste with Symalean's Environment solution.
Reduce waste and fight obsolescence
Another way to reduce your climate footprint is to reduce/eliminate waste:
- Avoid disposable cups, stirrers and capsules in the coffee machine, and avoid plastic cups and other disposable cutlery.
- Buy cups or glasses.
- Do away with bottled water
- Offer water bottles and fountains
- Reduce your printing
- Remember to reuse paper as scrap paper
- Repair equipment when it breaks down, instead of buying new.
- Think reuse. With the circular economy, you rethink your consumption patterns to limit the waste generated and optimize the use of natural resources by giving new life to products and materials.
Optimizing means of transport
Transportation is one of the biggest sectors in terms ofGHG emissions, and we need to reduce its impact:
- Introduce a more environmentally-friendly fleet of vehicles (electric, hybrid, etc.) by carefully checking production methods and properly maintaining vehicles.
- Encourage employees to use public transport (bus, train, etc.) or electric bicycles through season tickets.
- Car-pooling (organizing internal car-pooling groups is also a good way of creating solidarity within the company).
- Place group orders for meals and avoid ordering from different locations.
- Buy local produce and support more organic farming
Promoting environmentally-friendly working methods
Some working methods are more environmentally friendly than others:
- Encouraging teleworking
- Consider video-conferencing, which saves employees having to travel by car for meetings with certain customers.
- Develop flexible working hours
The responsibility of your stakeholders
Every company also has a responsibility when it comes to choosing its business partners. It must choose suppliers, distributors, etc. with the best environmental practices.
- Raising awareness/training employees, stakeholders and customers:
As an economic agent, the company also has a role to play in raising awareness among its employees, stakeholders and consumers.
- When an initiative is put in place, it's essential to communicate internally and externally to explain the process. If stakeholders feel involved, they will be less resistant to change and adopt your measures more readily.
- Learn how to use your digital tools properly: When it comes to saving energy, we don't think much about digital tools. However, there are a number of good practices you can adopt to use your computer correctly.
- Training in recycling rules: Review recycling rules, as many employees are unfamiliar with them.
- Taking action to combat climate change
Finally, the role of business is also political. If companies are active in politics, this can lead to new environmental regulations that can have a significant impact on global warming.
Symalean's carbon footprint approach
Although carbon footprinting is not mandatory, it is an opportunity to become an active player in the energy transition.
Only French companies with fewer than 500 employees are required to draw up a regulatory GHG balance sheet.
As a company in the digital sector, we decided to carry out our carbon footprint with HelloCarboto analyze and reduce our most polluting emissions.
Click here for our full carbon footprint:
