It’s becoming more and more apparent to us that we must take action now to save our planet. It may not affect us in our lifetimes but for generations to come, the world will simply not be the same if we don’t do our part now. We are already seeing the effects of global warming, just think if we don’t play our part in trying to reverse the effects what it will be like in years to come. It doesn’t bear thinking about really does it?

So what can we do to reduce our carbon footprint?

There are various actions we can take in the daily running of our businesses. 

Recycle

Recycling is simple and easy. When we recycle we are reducing the amount of raw materials that are required in order to make the item from scratch. Encourage your team to recycle by placing recycling points around the workplace and stress the importance of doing so. 

If you hold sensitive data then you must use a shredding service to comply with data protection. Make sure the company you use to do this recycle the paper on your behalf. They should be able to produce a certificate to prove this. 

Online Meetings

Since the Covid Pandemic was sprung upon us, we’ve all had to adapt and online meetings have become the norm. However, now that restrictions have been lifted, it’s important to consider whether or not travelling is essential. If your meeting can be done over Zoom then you’re saving fuel and emissions. Don’t make unnecessary journeys.

Use public transport

If you really need to leave the office, why not consider using public transport? The less amount of traffic on the road the better for our planet. By making a car journey you are producing around 200g of Carbon Dioxide per KM you travel. If you can car share then definitely consider this as this can halve your carbon footprint. If you choose to travel by train this figure is then halved again as you will only be producing 41g of Carbon Dioxide per KM. We often just get in our cars without even thinking of these statistics, but the more of us who pay attention and take action the better the world will be.

Go Paperless

Take a look around your office. How much paper do you see? Piles of paperwork are simply no longer essential. Look at ways to reduce the amount of paperwork which is produced by your organisation. The most obvious reason for reducing the amount of paper your business uses is of course the impact it has on our forests. Did you know that over 20% of the oxygen that you breathe in is produced by the Amazon rainforest alone? Deforestation doesn’t just affect the air we breathe it also affects the habitats of hundreds of different species of animals.

One thing we don’t often consider is how paper is made. The amount of energy which is used to produce paper is overwhelming. Many paper mills are also powered by fossil fuels which emit carbon, really not good for our atmosphere. 

If paper isn’t recycled appropriately it can also emit methane and carbon dioxide into the air as is decomposes. 

I bet you’ve never considered all of this before have you? So the next time you feel the need to print something off the printer, think to yourself, do I really need to print this?

Use Sustainable suppliers

If you’re doing your bit to help the environment, make sure the people who you are handing money over to are doing the same. It’s no good you doing what you can to save the planet and then your suppliers undoing it all. Look out for suppliers who have the certification ISO 14001. This proves that the business is actively campaigning to improve their resource efficiency and reducing their waste output. 

At LJM Bookkeeping Ltd we use software to reduce our carbon footprint and we are a paperfree organisation. We encourage our clients to use Dext for all receipts so that paper receipts are not required to be kept and can be recycled. We also advise our clients to receive their bank statements, receipts and invoices via email which can be sent straight to Dext instead of having hard copies which are no longer essential. All of our invoices and most of our clients invoices are produced via Xero so no physical papertrail is required. This also means that our clients are all set for MTD too!

Let's do our part today to reduce our Carbon Footprint.