Reducing carbon footprints

Carbon footprint is a well-known phrase often used while talking about the sustainability, environmental or the climate change. Its definition can be summarized as depicted in the below table:

GHG emissions cause the Earth to warm-up at an unnatural pace triggering a change in the pattern of temperature or weather (climate change) and a rapid increase in the average surface temperature of the Earth (global warming). Other major impacts include deterioration in the air quality index and impact on economic growth (clean energy vs non-renewable sources). The key reasons for the GHG emissions can be segregated majorly into topics like energy (burning of fossil fuels), agriculture, change in land use and deforestation, industrial revolution and waste production. Below pie shows the proportions of GHG generated by different sectors as well as food types for US in 2018.

Grown exponentially by 11x times since 1961, Carbon Footprint currently constitutes around 60% of total human ecological footprint. In past, large organizations across the globe have agreed to keep the temperature rise below 2° Celsius. In addition to this, few countries have even pledged to implement necessary actions which would result in the carbon neutrality and reduction in the overall GHG emissions.?

How can we contribute towards lowering of carbon footprint?

Lowering the Carbon Footprints is not an obligation of any specific party but everyone including nations, organizations, communities and people have to demonstrate equal participation and ownership towards this endeavor. Following steps can be taken in this regard:

A.????Measure and analyze

The foremost task before jumping on a problem like this is to perform a thorough analysis and background study on the current state of emissions (by your company, community, sector etc.). Here, utmost focus to be laid on getting to know the type, sources, quantity, quality and aftermath of emissions. Once these questions are answered, a correlation needs to be established between all these factors to point out the processes/activities producing most of the emissions. Help of private companies can be leveraged to perform this study. Once the reports are out, different mitigating factors can be considered.?

B.????Scale up energy efficiency

This topic has innumerable solutions available in the market. Simple reduction of energy usage reduces both Carbon Footprint and the operating expense for a entity. Energy efficiency needs to be upgraded not only at the industrial check points but also within commercial and public set-ups. To realize a better degree of adoption of energy efficient alternatives, policies need to be created. These policies will not only act as a point of compliance but also as detailed guidelines on the way these alternatives could be integrated well within the ecosystem. Small changes create big impacts and hence transforming a given facility to a fully energy efficient unit can be pulled off in a phase wise manner. Few e.g., to turn energy efficient are as given below:

1.?????Use of energy efficient appliances: Up to 40% of a building’s electricity use is accounted by lighting. Upgrading insulation and lighting systems in buildings, motion sensors to control lighting, installation of solar photovoltaic systems, ?installing efficient cooling systems, purchase energy-saving models of office equipment such as computers, LCD monitors, printers and photocopiers, simple and cost-effective hot air containment system using vinyl plastic curtains, use of solar shading and transparent film to avoid excessive heat, sealing gaps in floorboards, managing heating and cooling systems intelligently, switching to a green web hosting, keeping all equipment well maintained and at their highest efficiency etc.

2.?????Behavioral changes: Turning off office lights in the evening, lowering the heating or air conditioning, wherever possible ensure that natural light is used, encourage everyone to switch off all of their equipment at the end of the work day, get a routine energy audit done etc.

C.????Upgrade the way organizations works

The 2020 pandemic imparted world with good lessons on work from home strategies. Companies are realizing the benefits of this model and are opting out to work with a similar strategy in the future. Employees can be well asked to work remotely from home occasionally or when it makes sense. Around 76% Americans drive alone to work every day. Imagine the impact people working from home can have on the environment. Use of software like Zoom and Skype has increased urging employees from committing unnecessary business travel. Apart from this organizations can promote sustainable travel by commuting through trains and in a lower class (when in airline) as a policy. Emphasis has to be laid on carpooling and encouraging employees to bike, walk, or take public transport where ever possible.

D.????Reduction of waste

Waste has many forms and reducing it bears an ultimate impact on the environment. For an instance, lets take e.g. of paper as a waste and know why shredding of paper (and not disposing it) is necessary. Only half of the paper is recycled worldwide and use of old paper to make a new (and not making it from tree) one utilizes 65% less energy. As per calculations go, every ton of recycled paper can save 17 trees, 1728 liters of oil, 2.7 cubic meters of landfill space, 4000 kW of energy, and 31823 liters of water. Now this is the impact we are talking about. Food is another category of waste that takes huge amount of energy for production and transportation. Providing employees with good vegan and vegetarian food can help to reduce businesses Carbon Footprint. Usage of disposable cups, stirrers, and capsules needs to be banned, sorting of waste for recycling correctly is essential. Since plastic products are made from fossil fuels, and refining those fuels into plastics is an energy-intensive process, eliminating single-use plastics from the ecosystem is another big idea. Company’s packaging policy to be routinely reviewed to minimize the creation of waste wherever possible. Donate used office equipment to charity and non-profit organizations. Rather than destroying the physical storage equipment, emphasis to be laid on recycling and shredding of old data storage such as hard drives. Only physical destruction ensures the data on an old hard drive is 100% irretrievable.

E.????Focus on ecosystem

It is primitive that entities also take in consideration the third parties on which they are dependent for services. Looking for sustainable partner to complete your supply chain is the least you can do. Collecting data from suppliers on their plans and actions to achieve carbon neutrality has to be done periodically. Asking suppliers to adopt more eco-friendly practices such as correct waste management practices, fair treatment to employees etc. is essential. In addition to this transportation facility can be asked to switch to more fuel-efficient vehicles. Generally, supply chains are made up of various nodes and links between sources. Using machine learning models for efficient routing can help organizations transport its goods in a more sustainable fashion, searching for greener methods of shipping, preference to ground deliveries over air shipping, minimizing shipment numbers etc. Adopt a sustainable procurement policy such as purchasing eco-label products.

F.????Running Carbon Neutrality campaign

To run this campaign more efficiently, organizations need to play a political role in their territory by pushing back politician, policy makers and public to act on global warming. Use of carbon neutral technology, use of available information in making key decisions and monitoring the progress made on such programs is by far essential. Governments on the other hand need to strengthen GHG and fuel-economy standards for automobiles, start investing in public transportation and developing walkable, bikeable communities etc. Citizens also can contribute much by embracing a minimalist lifestyle, minimizing usage of fireplaces or wood stoves, buying locally sourced, organic, plant-based, unprocessed foods, reducing water use, recycling as much as possible and supporting climate action organizations. There are plenty of options.

Undoubtedly, mitigating carbon emissions is the ultimate demand for now, but only time will throw more light on the level of commitment entities show towards this objective.?