28 Nov Should we care about our carbon footprint?
I personally feel very passionate about environmental issues, although not to the extent that I’ll superglue myself to the road or anything like that, but it is an important matter for us, our children, and grandchildren.
I was very interested in an article I read in AT (AAT’s magazine) asking for members to volunteer for a Net Zero initiative. We got in touch with AAT and were shortlisted to be part of their pilot. The first step is to measure our current carbon footprint, seeing where our biggest uses as a firm are and then pledge to make a reduction.
The Net Zero System that we’re trailing gives us categories of usage, such as electricity, travelling to clients and even drinks we use in the office. It’s very easy to follow and understand with clear prompts of things for us to consider and enter. Where exact figures are not available, it gives an estimate based on the number of staff we have or the area of our office.
It’s important that we had contributions from the whole team and got them involved with completing a form about their home energy usage, particularly when working from home. Tasia and Taylor are a big part of the pilot too, Tasia has been a big help collating and filling in the information on our usage and Taylor has started to see what changes we can make in the office.
It’s a difficult area for many as there is not a starting point and knowing what’s best to do. If we all do what we can in our personal and business lives, it all makes a positive impact for our planet and future generations. It could just be turning the heating 1 degree lower, turning it off when you could just wear a jumper or for some people, not just leaving it running all the time.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not perfect at this and it’s sometimes more comfortable just to do something that’s easier than best. Businesses will be taking a bigger part in carbon reporting and especially accountants as it becomes part of the role to calculate and report for companies.
I watched an interesting programme on carbon offsetting where it was explained that some of the offsets are not even genuine. It’s not something I had even thought of before and when people are aware that they need to make sure they are using good carbon offsetting schemes, it is a lot better than just thinking you’re doing the right thing.
If you’re interested in becoming Net Zero, it’s best to get onto it and get the buy in from everyone in your team. We’re thankful to AAT for getting us involved and giving us the opportunity to become Net Zero which we’re all aiming towards. It’s a long road but taking the first step is a really important move.
Author: Dan Harrison
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