How to Become a Carbon-Neutral Business
How to Become a Carbon-Neutral Business
How to Make Your Business Carbon Neutral
In recent decades, we have become more aware as a society of how our actions affect the environment. Because of the carbon emissions we produce, the climate is slowly but steadily rising in temperature, a change that threatens ecosystems, plant and animal populations, and ultimately human life. Projections of the near future have become bleak. But we also know that if we take action now, there is hope.
Businesses are responsible for producing large percentages of global carbon emissions. The fashion industry alone contributes almost ten percent of total carbon emissions. But these actions aren’t irreversible. We can stabilize climate change. To do this, we need to go carbon neutral. This means that, for every ton of carbon produced, we take action to eliminate one ton of carbon in the atmosphere.
Consumers of all types have resolved to shop with companies that are committed to becoming environmentally friendly. This means that businesses need to do their part. One of the best ways to become an environmentally friendly business is to receive a carbon-neutral business certification.
How Can Carbon Neutrality Be Achieved?
Companies, like individuals, have a responsibility when it comes to reducing their carbon footprints. Attaining a carbon-neutral company certification is a commitment, but it’s much more doable than it may seem. Companies like Climate Neutral are dedicated to helping companies become carbon neutral by outlining the steps and requirements it takes to reach net-zero carbon output. They can show you and your company which steps to take to become carbon neutral.
Benefits of Becoming Carbon Neutral
There are many positive side-effects of becoming carbon neutral for your company. This certification benefits your business, your corporate relationships, trust between you and your team, and, of course, our world.
- As we’ve said, individual consumers are worried about climate change and are changing their shopping habits as a result. Shoppers can search lists of carbon-neutral companies, and if you become certified, they’ll see your business on those lists. This brings support to your company and gives consumers more shopping options.
Even if you’re still in the process of becoming carbon-neutral certified, shoppers can also see lists of brands that are committed to certification. When people see that your company has joined the movement, trust for your brand will grow.
- When it comes to B2B relationships, many companies have corporate goals for their shopping as well. For instance, if an administrative assistant needs to order logo-branded shirts for their company, they will be motivated by their employers to seek out carbon-neutral clothing brands to order products from.
- Newer legislation also supports climate action. More laws and regulations are being instated every year, and it’s important to make sure your company is following rules that are set in place to protect the planet.
- Then, of course, of all the benefits of becoming carbon-neutral, there’s the most important one: to do your part as a business to help stabilize climate change. Protecting the future of our planet and the people who live on it is not only beneficial, it’s essential.
How to Become a Carbon Neutral Company
When you partner with an organization like Climate Neutral, you’ll first provide information about your company, including your location, size, products, services, corporate travel, etc. As the process continues, you’ll begin to measure your company’s actual carbon footprint. This refers to the number of carbon tons your company produces each year.
This is an involved process, and it takes time. You will measure the carbon footprint of every action your company takes. This includes travel, fossil fuels used at your facilities, electricity used, employee commuting, and more. If your company manufactures products, each product has a carbon footprint that must be measured, too. The more products you make and sell, the more time this will take, but it’s important to remember the goal. Producing more products means producing more carbon.
Once you know the number of carbon tons your company produces, you will choose projects with actions that remove carbon from the atmosphere. The scope and number of projects your company must complete are calculated to offset the amount of carbon you produce.
Organizations like Climate Neutral provide numerous different ideas for projects your company can complete. You might have the opportunity to plant trees locally, and your team will be able to watch them grow over the years. You might fund the planting of trees in the rainforest, promoting the vitality of plant and animal life in regions you’ve only seen in photos. You might invest in water filtration in communities where fresh water is hard to obtain and emitting carbon is necessary for purification. Clean water is such an intense, immediate need, and to provide it for an entire community indefinitely is an amazing thing.
When your company’s carbon-eliminating work offsets the number of carbon tons you produce, your company will receive carbon-neutral certification!
Learn More About Zusa: A Carbon-Neutral Brand
Merchology's own brand, Zusa, is incredibly proud to announce that it is officially a certified carbon-neutral company! Beginning as a way to create custom corporate apparel sustainably, Zusa has expanded in its environmental practices to completely offset its carbon emissions. Learn more in our certified Climate Neutral business profile.
Carbon-Neutral Actions at Merchology
Merchology is excited to announce that our own custom corporate apparel brand, Zusa, is committed to becoming carbon neutral!
As a brand, Zusa is conscious of the fact that the fashion industry is the second-largest producer of pollution in the world. 89% of our products are made from recycled materials. We hope that, in the future, 100% of our products will incorporate recycled materials, making single-use plastics into reusable corporate apparel. We are committed to becoming sustainable, for the sake of our planet and the people living on it. Zusa is 100% ethically sourced. The factories that manufacture our products are WRAP-certified, meaning there are strict regulations that protect workers. These include competitive pay, bans on child and involuntary labor, and protection for harassment and discrimination.
As we work toward environmental change, it is our goal to make Zusa a fully carbon-neutral clothing brand by the end of 2022!