5 Steps to reduce your Carbon Footprint today [Green]

Let my voice be heard. Let my impact be felt. Let me do something that can make a difference today.

A few days back, I wrote a post which introduced the concept of “Supply to Zero”. Although seemingly impossible at this point in time, the idea (inspired by Bill Gates’ recent talk at TED), is about how we can reduce the amount of CO₂ that is produced as a result of the various activities that make up Supply Chain Management.

 

The Carbon Footprint is a much talked about metric in today’s world. After Copenhagen and Doha, I’ve been seeing that a lot has been written about this term. It seems more companies are interested in adopting this metric sometime in the near future and use it for reporting purposes – especially with the risk that a similar metric is going to become mandatory in the near future. There is a “State of Green Business” forum going on as I write this blog post. The world is finally waking up to the fact that we need to get “Green” into the picture and make sure that we have a reporting mechanism in place to measure improvement. I have a video below, which highlights this exact idea. This video takes a look at individual, collective and corporate levels of responsibility we need to take up for our environmental challenges.

This video accompanies a presentation entitled: "Being Honest With Ourselves: Putting Numbers Behind Green Business”. You can download a copy of the presentation here.

 

But the real question that arises from all this is “Can you really measure your Carbon Footprint?”  The average footprint for a person in North America is 20 Tons of CO₂ every year. The average for the entire world is about 4 Tons of CO₂ every year (Imagine the amount by which the rest of the world offsets the footprint of North America). Just look at the graph here to get an idea.

 

So back to the question we were trying to answer. Can you end up reducing it or eliminating it completely? Turns out you can. I’ll give you five ways you can reduce your Carbon Footprint today. If climate change is really a concern for you and you want to do your bit, you’ll do it today. Something like turning water off when not in use goes a long way.

 

1. Turn down the water heating setting to 130 F along with turning down the central heating slightly (try just 3 degrees reduces 1100 pounds annually).
2. Check the central heating timer setting - remember there is no point heating the house after you have left for work.
3. Turn off lights when not in use. Replace 75 watt bulbs with Compact Fluorescent lamps.
4. Inflate your car tires regularly (can save 400-700 pounds of CO₂ annually).
5. Install CFC free air conditioners. (Energy Star Products are certified to have low CO₂ emissions). Get cavity wall installation done. Savings are up to $350 per month. Cost can be recovered in 5 years. Turn off the air conditioner when you’re out.

   It’s as simple as this. Five small steps today are a potential starting point. Also, I’ve listed a few resources below. Most of these sources will help you calculate your personal Carbon Footprint and tell you how you can reduce it immediately with just minor changes to your lifestyle.

   Let my voice be heard. Let my impact be felt. Let me do something that can make a difference today.

   Resources:

   • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_footprint
   • http://www.carbonfootprint.com
   • http://www.recyclingsupermarket.com/featured/carbon-footprint-a-beginners-guide
   • http://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx
   • http://footprintnetwork.org/

What do you think? Is the Carbon Footprint something you’re worried about? Will you follow these steps? Write to me in the comments section and let me know.

A new interface... and some other things

There really needs to be no occasion to thank the readers of this blog. This is but a small drop in the entire ocean of Supply Chain Management articles written everyday and I am thankful to all the people who drop by now and then and consider this blog worthy of reading. Yesterday, I rolled out an update to the interface which you’ll use to interact with SCM Blog. For those who read this blog through their feed readers, I encourage you to drop in and check out the design changes.

 

With the fresher look come a lot of changes. I have made sure the page is readable on screens with a wide variety of resolutions (including the very popular 1024x768). SCM Blog now has a magazine style interface that helps you browse through articles faster than before. The “Panoramic Slideshow” at the top and center cycles through the articles on this blog, while the “Recent posts” section gives you a quick snapshot of the two latest posts on SCM Blog. The “Browse Categories” section lets you choose from five popular categories on the website. You can also choose to select a topic to read from the tag cloud on the sidebar. As always, you can follow me on Twitter to catch up with what’s been written on this blog. I am also working on getting a Facebook Page for SCM Blog.

 

As always, a blog is nothing without its readers. I would like to personally thank each and every person who has visited this blog and read its articles. I am indebted to the people who have been encouraging me behind the scenes to write this blog day after day. I also would like to thank Michael Hutagalung for creating this wonderful theme and Jake Ilac for making it compatible with my platform. The update today signifies climbing a small step in what I hope is going to be a long and fruitful journey. I would like all of you to be part of this journey. Thanks for your support and enjoy the new interface.