Today, the term Carbon Footprint is a widely used one, gaining greater prominence thanks to the ever-increasing and disastrous path that mankind has been leading his environment to. So, what exactly is a carbon footprint?
As the term suggests, it is the mark that we leave on our planet as a result of our daily activities or usage/emissions of carbon dioxide. In more precise terms, it is the measure of impact that human activities have on the environment and this is calculated in proportion to the greenhouse gases produced and measured in units of carbon dioxide.
So, what are the human activities that cause emissions of carbon dioxide? Take a closer look and you’ll realize that almost all your activities – commuting, housing, traveling, and eating are responsible in varying degrees for the production of the deadly greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide or CO2, which is the primary cause of global warming.
All human activities use some form of fossil fuel. For instance, travel and transportation use diesel, petrol or aviation fuel; electricity used at homes and offices and without which life is unimaginable, is produced mostly from coal-based power plants in India and these emit large quantities of CO2. A wide range of packaged food from all over the world is today easily available in all Indian cities. Imagine the amount of fuel that is used in transporting these to your table!
Is there anything at all that we as humans can do to alleviate the problems caused by carbon emissions? Thankfully, yes. In fact, all our small actions can go a long way to reduce the impact of global warming and climate change.
Small adaptations in our lifestyle— whether it be at our homes or at our work places— are required. Let us look at some tips which Indian companies can adopt and thereby substantially reduce their carbon emissions.
Be a bit more imaginative and these tips can be used in your home too, helping you reduce your electricity bills and in the process helping you to contribute to the larger picture:
Tips – Equipments and Appliances
- Start off by signing up for e-statements and e-bills and request your service providers not to send you hard copies of bills. Very often, in the Indian context, it is noted that although utilities provide e-statements, they do not always discontinue sending hard copies. So, make sure you put in a specific request.
- Use online banking, wherever possible, for paying bills, premiums, insurances, clients, employees.
- Avoid printing documents and print only what is absolutely essential.
- Set the dual side printing option as default for all the systems in the office. This will help in saving 50% of your paper.
- Encourage using soft copies for filing/documentation. Note the comparisons—
every ton of recycled paper saves enough electricity to run a 3 bedroom house for 1 year. - Encourage employees to turn off lights/fans when stepping out of office.
- Turn off lights, fans, air conditioners in the evening at closing time.
- Use energy saving lighting appliances.
- When not is use for some amount of time, request employees to turn off the computer monitors.
- Ensure that computers are shut down after use.
- When buying any new equipment or appliances, go in for energy efficient systems. Today, a wide range of energy efficient equipments and appliances certified by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency are available in the Indian market, but there is little awareness about these. Ask specifically for energy consumption details and make comparisons. Even if the product costs a bit more initially, you will make up on the additional initial costs, given the saving on energy consumption.
- Turn down the A/C cooling by 1 or 2 degrees. This will add considerably to power saving.
- Apply the same logic to refrigerators and water coolers by turning them down by 1 or 2 degrees.
- Use lower ceilings/false ceilings that are properly sealed for air-conditioned offices.
Tips – Transportation
- For short distances (eg. Chennai to Bangalore), encourage employees to take overnight trains or buses rather than flights.
- Whenever possible, encourage the work from home culture. This not only improves productivity and saves employees the time and trouble of reaching work, but also saves enormously on the fuel used for transportation.
- Whenever possible, encourage video conferencing rather than flying across continents for meetings.
Tips – General
- Use green energy (could be solar, solar thermal, wind, etc.), at least partially, to take care of say 10% of the total monthly power consumption of your company. For example, for hot water in the office kitchen, solar water heaters are a very good and reliable option.
- Opt for greener buildings, which are designed to minimize energy use and leverage natural sunlight and ventilation to the maximum.
- If canteen facilities are available, encourage preparing and serving locally produced food, which will leave a smaller carbon footprint.
- Get a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of your company to determine accurately the company’s current carbon footprint. Many companies in India today offer this service and it is of great help in assessing how much carbon we emit.
- Offset carbon emission by making investments in projects that aim at reducing CO2, such as biofuels, renewable energy, and tree planting under the Kyoto Protocol. The Indian carbon market today is booming and many companies are offering turnkey solutions to clients who are willing to invest in reducing their carbon footprint via the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol.
- And last but not the least, generate awareness amongst employees on how they can make a smaller carbon footprint in their daily lives by adopting greener practices. This will take your efforts to the next level through the ripple effect.
So, get ahead and wake up to the carbon call! You will not only make the environment a safer place for your children, but will also be part of a global effort. And the best gain will be the feeling of contentment that you get from knowing that you have done your bit to keep our planet safe.
Article originally published at http://www.chillibreeze.com/articles_various/Carbon-Footprint.asp
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