How to make your environmentalism pay!

STEP 1: Figure it out:

Every time that you drive your car you contribute to global warming. The same is true for turning on a light-unless you are purchasing energy from alternative sources.

This article will help you off-set those carbon emissions. It is not that expensive to do this, and you will be helping to pay for some of the environmental cost incurred by your company.

Discovering our carbon imprint wasn’t as easy as we thought it would be. I had heard about carbon offsets opportunities for a while, and we wanted to do it, but we did not know how. Most of the information used for determining the carbon generated is geared to the consumer, not the small manufacturing business.

We found these sites particularly helpful in trying to come up with figures and just having these links might save you hours of time:

http://www.carboncounter.org/

http://www.carbonfootprint.com/

http://www.climatecrisis.net/takeaction/carboncalculator/

http://www.carbonfund.org/site/

Using these sites, our company of ten employees produces carbon emissions from these six sources. The figures are in metric tons:

1. Employee commute: 28.9 tons

2. Employee business travel: 13.44 tons

3. Shop gasses (from soldering): .11 tons

4. Company vehicles: 6.02 tons

5. Electricity: 2.43 tons

6. Natural gas: .47 tons

Our biggest impact is employee commutes and travel. Electricity is low because ninety percent of our energy comes from green sources. Compact fluorescent light bulbs are used in the plant.

The question is, once you are able to figure out your actual offset, how do you turn it into your advantage? That comes with who you choose to work with for your offset.

STEP 2: Choose your organization

You can go on line and see a number of organizations that offer different offset possibilities. From this, you can actually see what you are going to pay for your off-set.

http://www.ecobusinesslinks.com/carbon_offset_wind_credits_carbon_reduction.htm

There have been some rumors in the press that question whether money donated to certain organizations for off-set are actually being used for that purpose. Research your choice well.

The company that I chose to work with is not on this list. Forest Guardians, a New Mexico based environmental organization, has been involved with tree planting programs around streams beds in New Mexico, which supports most of biodiversity. Just as I was about to choose where to off-set my carbon, the assistant director, Carol Norton, gave me a call and asked me if I wanted to work with them. I have been a supporter of theirs for many years.

Their mission is:

“To protect and restore the native wildlands and wildlife of the American Southwest through fundamental reform of public policies and practices. Our goals are to protect and restore the native biological diversity and watersheds of the American Southwest; educate and enlist citizens to support protection of the forests, rivers, deserts and grasslands of this arid region; advocate for the principles of conservation biology in plans to restore degraded ecosystems and watersheds; enforce and strengthen environmental laws; support communities in efforts to protect their land and to practice and promote sustainable use of natural resources.”

Since I know the organization has integrity, I can be assured that the money will actually off set the carbon we use through tree planting. Also, I saw a greater opportunity to tap into their network.

One thing that particularly appealed to me about Forest Guardians is that their offsets addressed entire ecosystems. Secondly, they were willing to work with me in a press release. Going green is the right thing to do, but it costs money. So if you can, work with an organization that will give you publicity. Ask for a link from their site and see if they will write something about you in their newsletter.

In this regard, it is great if you can find a local organization because they are going to be more receptive and easier to access.

STEP 3: Write a Press Release

The critical thing now is to get support from the community that shares your green values. This is a huge advantage because socially responsible jewelry, even according to leaders in our industry such as Martin Rapaport, has the opportunity to become the luxury brand. A large number of people in our country, perhaps as much as twenty percent are interested in supporting companies that are socially responsible.

You need to make these people aware that you exist because you need their support. Being socially responsible costs money.

I write a lot of press releases and I used to just write boring ones. Here is an example of what I consider a bad press release.

Then, I realized that editors see hundreds of these a day, probably, and they are looking for press releases which are interesting and even provocative.

My last press release was about how I switched to a Fair Trade supplier in Bali even though it costs more than the people I was working with in India and Thailand.

I got the attention of a senior editor of a major trade magazine who was offended by my-calling Blood Diamonds a “red herring.” I wrote a long response to his protest. In the end, he really appreciated my point of view. I realize it was like playing with fire and fortunately, I was not burned. The release was picked up by JCK.

Here’s my press release for my Zero Carbon. I admit, it is a little zany, and I may modify it for certain editors who I know would not be into it, but for a general release, it might just catch the attention of some people.

Also, here are some press release services that we use:

http://www.prweb.com/

http://home.businesswire.com/

http://www.i-newswire.com/

http://www.24-7pressrelease.com/

http://www.pr.com/

After you release your info to these sites, go to Google alerts and trace where it gets picked up. Simply enter your search terms in the box provided and select how often you want updates. Google will then send you emails to the email you provide, with all instances of that search term being used for the time selected.

You can then go through them, one by one and see how many found you or someone else using that term. These are great because though they can take a little time to explore, they can be troves of marketing treasure. If you go about this, please come back to this site and share information, particularly if you are able to find more about going zero carbon. We are always looking for ways to improve.

Global warming is more than a hot-button issue these days as the quality of our air continues to decrease. As carbon dioxide (CO2) is a normal part of the air, but it’s also one of the major greenhouse gases. At normal levels, CO2 traps some heat in the earth’s atmosphere and lets some escape. (This process is known as the greenhouse effect.) But high levels of CO2 and other greenhouse gases trap too much heat in the earth’s atmosphere, causing global warming. Scientific investigations over many decades point to human activity as the primary cause of global warming because humans need energy for just about any type of function they perform. Burning fossil fuels as a natural energy resource leads to the emission of vast quantities of carbon dioxide gas (CO2), which is considered a major cause of global warming.

As we all are responsible for global warming and each of us contributes to climate change with our daily activities; businesses cause more carbon footprints by using a great deal of energy. Total amount of greenhouse gases produced to support a business, includes those caused by direct and indirect emissions. Direct emissions are emissions from sources that a company owns or controls such as vehicle fleets or natural-gas fired boilers. Indirect emissions are a consequence of actions at a business, but occur at sources owned or operated by another company such as emissions associated with electricity, heat and/or steam use. The challenge of dealing with the impact of carbon emissions is an area that has been long overlooked by the global community.

Because businesses play an important role in climate change, they should be aware about their carbon footprints.  A starting point for addressing the carbon footprint of business operations is to assess current carbon emissions. It is important to measure your business’s carbon footprint because if you cannot measure it, you cannot change it!  By reducing your company’s consumption of electricity, fuel and resources like paper; you can reduce your greenhouse gas emissions. Another option to address the carbon footprint of business operations without making any of the changes your resources is to purchase carbon offset credits. These credits are an investment in environmentally friendly projects, such as tree planting projects, and are a form of compensation to the environment for the harm caused by business operations.

Reducing emissions can benefit your business in many ways, including reducing costs, boosting your market positioning and branding, and improving efficiency and competitiveness. Your efforts to reduce your organization’s carbon emissions will also demonstrate a real commitment to environmental responsibility. Business has the power to change the world – and you have the power to change business. As an employer it’s your responsibility to estimate Carbon Footprint of your business to reduce CO2 emissions and ensure healthy future for your employees and coming generations. You should take your step towards carbon offsetting as quickly as possible to avert the most damage.Business carbon offsets gives you the power to reduce your carbon emissions by making your business “carbon neutral”.

Global Warming is a burning issue and hot topic to be considered as a priority. Global warming is the process of a gradual increase in the earth’s atmospheric and ground temperatures throughout the entire planet. Day-to-day activities by humans since the beginning of the industrial era have resulted in the increased emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses to the atmosphere, causing a trend of warming at a distressing pace.

Greenhouse gases were not a problem until the world depended on fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are oils, gases and coal which we use every day for different activities. Most activities we undertake in our working lives produce carbon and contribute to our Carbon Footprint (the sum of all the carbon our small business produces). We are all responsible for adding Carbon Dioxide into the atmosphere, just by doing everyday things such as driving our cars, heating our homes and flying to a holiday destination.

However every individual on earth is responsible for carbon dioxide emissions through the use of energy, businesses are the major cause of increasing global warming. Every business causes a direct impact on the environment by using enormous amount of energy to run its office and maintain its staff needs. Global warming is a major problem due to industrialization and economic development.

Businesses should take a step toward solving global warming issues and take some effective measures to reduce their carbon footprints. Carbon offsetting is best way to compensate your business carbon footprints. The term carbon offset means that you attempt to mitigate or reduce the effects of your emission of greenhouse gases by trying to do other activities which may have an equivalent value.Business carbon offsets let you pay to reduce the global GHG (greenhouse gas) total instead of making radical or impossible reductions of your own. If you are running a business, you have a responsibility to keep any pollution that may result from your business activities under control.

Flying is also one of the fastest increasing causes of climate change, due to the carbon emitted. But you can neutralize your carbon emissions with the carbon neutral flights, and make your travel greener.Carbon neutral flights entail spending money on carbon offset schemes to make up for the carbon emitted into the atmosphere during your flight.

Global warming is evidenced by changes to our environment and weather patterns and, if left unchecked, could seriously affect life on our earth. It’s time to wake up and explore how you can make a difference in the battle against the environmentally damaging effects of carbon emissions.