How charities can engage in carbon accountability

Climate change is one of the most pressing issues of our time – if not the most pressing. It’s up to all of us, both personally and professionally, to take steps that will help protect our planet.  

One of the ways to do this is by becoming more accountable for your organisation’s carbon footprint and then taking steps to actively reduce it.

What is a carbon footprint? 

‘Carbon footprint’ is a phrase that’s used when talking about climate change or impact on the environment. Future Learn defines carbon footprint as, ‘A measure of the total amount of greenhouse gasses released into the atmosphere as a result of an individual’s, organisation’s, or nation’s actions. It’s usually measured in tonnes of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent).’ 

To truly understand the definition of ‘carbon footprint’, it’s helpful to know all the other terms too, such as ‘greenhouse gasses’, ‘fossil fuel’, ‘the greenhouse effect’ et cetera as this will help put it into context.

How to measure your carbon footprint 

There are several free carbon footprint calculators that will help you measure your carbon footprint and your impact on the environment. Conservation charity WWF has an online calculator where individuals can find out how big their environmental footprint is in less than ten minutes.  

If you’re an organisation looking to understand what your carbon footprint is, the free GHG Emissions Calculation Tool, which is Excel-based, will help you to estimate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.  

Once you understand the areas in your organisation where your carbon footprint is high, you can set a goal to reduce it by a certain amount, or percentage, and put a strategy or plan in place to achieve that goal.

Tips to reduce your charity’s carbon footprint 

Whilst you may be tackling particular areas of your organisation directly when it comes to reducing your carbon footprint, here are some tips to reduce it generally.

Go paperless 

There are so many ways to use less paper in the office. From simple things such as adding a reminder to your email footers asking, ‘Do you need to print this? Please consider the environment’, to more sophisticated workflows that use scanning, automation, and digitisation.   

Here are a few ways to go paperless: 

• Transform your paper newsletter or magazine to a digital edition 
• Encourage your finance team to go paperless when it comes to bank and utility statements, invoicing and payment slips 
• Implement an online expense claim system

Encourage greener travel   

One thing that COVID-19 has taught us is that it’s not necessary to have to travel for a meeting, conference, or training. Encourage staff to consider the environment when setting up meetings. 

As part of your benefits package, offer staff bicycle and season ticket loans to incentivise a greener way to travel. Not only is cycling to work a more environmentally-friendly option, it’s also great for boosting wellbeing through being outdoors and getting physical exercise.

Offset your carbon emissions  

For those occasions where staff may need to fly, such as visiting a project or programme in another country, ensure that your travel policy allows for them to offset their carbon emissions. This is usually offered by the airline, and it means paying a little bit extra on top of your ticket price to fund projects that are aimed at reducing carbon footprint.

Invest in smart technology 

So much energy is wasted by leaving equipment on, or lights on, when there is no-one in the office. Invest in smart technology that can be programmed to turn lights, heating and air-conditioning on and off at certain times helping to waste less energy.  

Not only will you be helping to reduce your carbon footprint, but you’ll also most likely save money on energy bills too.  

Did you know that appliances on standby mode are said to be responsible for 1% of global carbon emissions?

Ask staff to switch computers off rather than putting them on sleep mode or just locking them. Make it a rule that the last person in the office switches off appliances such as kettles, toasters, printers, and microwaves at the plug point.

Reduce waste – reuse and recycle 

So many day-to-day things needed in an office produce a carbon footprint – whether it’s paper, electronic devices, running taps or having the heating on.  

Encourage recycling by having recycling bins around the office where staff can recycle paper, plastic, and tins.  

Instead of binning old furniture, fundraising collection tins or old computers, donate them to an organisation who could reuse them. Or, if you’re in need of new items or equipment, see if you can find any that would otherwise be thrown out by posting what you’re looking for (or offering) on social media.