How Small Businesses Can Offset Their Carbon Footprints

Welcome back Katie Brenneman, a frequent guest writer here at 21st Century Tech Blog. This is her ninth contribution covering a range of topics from sustainability, to lifestyle and mental health. You can follow her on Twitter. In this posting, Katie talks about the carbon emissions challenges that small businesses face in trying to be part of the climate change solution. As always please feel free to send your comments which you can post below.

Waste and pollution are contributors to climate change. “Going green” is no longer just a fad or a nice to have, but rather a necessary action for the small business world. 

The business sector is a significant carbon emission contributor. Small businesses are no exception. Market mechanisms have been developed to help businesses address their carbon footprints through the purchase of carbon offsets also called carbon credits. Offsets come from sustainable initiatives aimed at reducing waste and pollution and involve eco-friendly programs either local or global. 

So what are carbon offsets? Why are they so important for small businesses? And how do they complement other environmental programs and initiatives small businesses can take to reduce their climate impact?

Small businesses, just like their big cousins, need to commit to sustainability.

What Are Carbon Offsets?

The first question posed above asks what is a carbon offset. The term describes an act of counteracting carbon emissions produced by a company. Carbon offsets were established as a way to neutralize carbon pollution, mostly a measure of carbon dioxide (CO2) or equivalent gasses released into the atmosphere through business operations. The offsets purchased support environmentally-proven mitigation projects that remove CO2 from the atmosphere and ocean. Businesses can purchase offsets for every metric ton of CO2 they produce.  

There are three types of  emission reduction carbon offset earning projects small businesses can use:

• Initiatives that capture and destroy greenhouse gasses that would otherwise have been emitted. 
• Initiatives that use clean, renewable resources to produce energy, reducing the amount of fossil fuels being burned. 
• Initiatives that capture and store greenhouse gasses are known as carbon capture and sequestration (CCS). 

Offsets can be purchased from one or more of these types of initiatives. And in some instances, a small business can start an initiative or project to protect a boreal or rainforest site which would then issue offsetting credits.  

Why Carbon Offsets Are Needed

U.S. annual carbon emissions currently total somewhere between 5 and 6 million kilotons. Businesses contribute 24% of the total from their use of energy and materials, through manufacturing, transportation, and end-of-life disposal operations for the goods produced or services provided. So far, are U.S. businesses doing enough to lower emissions? Not nearly. Yesterday’s passing of the Inflation Reduction Act may accelerate efforts that will likely stimulate the growth and use of carbon credit offsets.

And the Act may also encourage businesses to start eco-friendly initiatives and programs that don’t assign offsets. Why do the latter? Because the offsets are a means to reduce emissions but are not the only actions businesses can take to achieve climate change mitigating goals.

Setting Carbon Emission Reduction Goals

It helps to sit down and look at your business operations and what changes to make to address emission reductions. What kind of projects can the business handle? Think of this as another business project. Create a problem-solving flowchart or other methods to help establish a reduction target and the actions to get there. Once you identify the practices and operations within your business that contribute to emissions, waste and pollution, you can start coming up with solutions or initiatives to counteract or reduce your environmental impact. 

Examples to offset emissions include:

1. Invest in Renewable Sources of Energy – The most significant way a small business can reduce emissions is by choosing a utility provider whose production comes from green energy sources. Is putting solar panels on the roof of your business doable? Or can you purchase electricity from solar, wind, geothermal and hydroelectric sources?
2. Reduce, Recycle and Reuse – Waste reduction reduces emissions. Landfills are greenhouse gas emission-producing besides being contributors to soil and water pollution. Small businesses need, therefore, to find ways to reduce waste through implementing recycling programs, reusing or repurposing items rather than disposal, and being more mindful of ending excess purchasing habits that add to the overall company carbon footprint.
3. Use Green Devices and Appliances – When buying devices and appliances check their energy ratings. Energy Star-certified devices or appliances use less power. In your business be more mindful of energy consumption by turning off or unplugging devices when not in use, and converting lighting to LED and other green choices.
4. Produce More Sustainable Products – Rethink the cradle-to-grave impact of what you produce or the services you provide. That means procuring sustainable materials and implementing closed-loop manufacturing and end-of-life strategies to reduce your environmental footprint. You may want to introduce carbon labelling on products and services so that customers can see your sustainability efforts.
5. Implement Local Community Eco-Friendly Programs – What many small businesses fail to realize is that their practices impact local communities the most. Green programs to support your local community can include initiatives like building or supporting a community garden, funding local wildlife programs, hosting events to raise awareness about climate change and pollution, donating money to local green projects, and sponsoring more green community spaces, parks, and nature conservancy.

Final Thoughts

So you can see there are many ways for a small business to implement carbon emission offsets and getting started now is important. The faster a carbon emission reduction strategy is implemented, the more the business can mitigate climate change. This way even a small business can be part of the carbon emissions solution. The children and grandchildren will thank you.

To get started down the carbon offset path you can visit The 6 Best Carbon Offset Programs of 2022 website.