Carbon accounting has become an important aspect of businesses attempting to reduce their carbon footprint and have more ethical values. Consumers want greener brands that they can support while still being able to sleep at night. A lot of people have refused to back brands that aren’t nowadays. We completely support this and realize that carbon accounting is crucial for brands. And no, not just so your audience will like you, so corporations are helping do their part to make the planet a better place. So, how does carbon accounting work?
GHG Emissions Data Measurement: will require a tool to do calculations through translating business activities and brand characteristics into emissions outputs.
Scope 1 (Direct Emissions): things that your brand burns. Fuel to heat & power buildings, vehicles, etc. These are direct emissions from combustible fuels.
Stationary sources: buildings that burn fuel
Mobile: vehicles that burn fuel or other types of powered tools
Fugitive (refrigeration): chemicals released from equipment, such as AC and refrigeration
Fugitive (fire suppression): chemicals released from fire suppression
Scope 2 (Indirect): come from purchased electricity, steam, heating or cooling.
Electricity: look at utility bill for usage in kWh.
Steam, heat and cooling: know how it’s produced from providers.
Scope 3: largest share of carbon emissions. Everything it takes to create your product. They’re indirectly generated by brands. Business travel, commutes, waste disposal, transportation, distribution, etc.
Upstream: things that it takes to make your product
Downstream: everything to consume your product
We know, this was a lot to take in. Seems like a whole lot of hoopla in order to help climate change. Good news. There are so many companies out there that are made just for this. Your brand can outsource everything in terms of carbon accounting. They use software and help you understand what it is so that you can start to make little changes that will make a BIG difference.
