Rick Crawford
Climate change is the single greatest threat to fisheries, not to mention our entire planet, and the 2020’s will prove to be a critical decade in solving the climate crisis and I want to be part of the solution by working with my clients to also achieve carbon neutrality, zero waste and other sustainability and social initiatives that make the world a better place! This is why I have decided to change my company’s mission statement in order to better reflect the sense of urgency related to the climate crisis. Emerger Strategies new mission statement is “To solve the climate crisis by improving the social, environmental and economic bottom lines of your business.“ I am proud to say that we are achieving our mission because all of my clients have improved their social, environmental and economic bottom lines, but I also believe in leading by example and I am thrilled to announce that Emerger Strategies is now carbon neutral!
Even though we are a small company with a relatively small carbon footprint, I hope that we can inspire other companies to take action on climate because businesses going carbon neutral is integral in solving the climate crisis. Additionally, Emerger Strategies takes great pride in demonstrating our social and environmental responsibility as we don’t just “talk the talk” but we “walk the walk.” For example, we have been a 1% for the Planet member since our inception so we donate at least 1% of our annual sales to environmental nonprofits and we volunteer for a variey of local nonprofits such as Charleston Waterkeeper and Lowcountry Land Trust. However, we are also working with our clients to go carbon neutral and we wanted to also do our part by going doing the same! Below is how we went carbon neutral…
Methodology
In an effort to provide you with a relevant, complete, consistent, transparent and accurate greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory, I thought it would be beneficial to share our methodology:
Organizational Boundary: Because Emerger Strategies has financial control over our operations and the ability to direct the financial and operating policies in regards to gaining economic benefits from our activities, we are taking a financial control approach.
Operational Boundary: In order to set our operational boundaries, we must report our Scope 1 (direct emissions) and Scope 2 (indirect emissions) and are voluntarily reporting our Scope 3 (indirect emissions). For more information on see table below:
Scope 1 (Direct Emissions): I work from home and my car is registered under my name, therefore, Emerger Strategies does not technically own any facilities or vehicles so while I am accounting for Scope 1, it is irrelevant.
- 2019 Scope 1 emissions: 0.00 mtCO2e
Scope 2 (Indirect Emissions): I am accounting for purchased electricity used at my home and because I work long and sometimes odd hours and it would be difficult to accurately account for the exact percentage used for personal vs. business, so I am electing to account for 100% of my home’s electricity usage. I have taken steps to ensure my home is as energy efficient as possible and hope to install solar one of these days, but in the meantime, we offset 100% of our purchased electricity with Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) from wind energy by taking a market-based approach for our energy needs
- 2019 Scope 2 emissions BEFORE purchasing RECs: 5.29 mtCO2e
- 2019 Scope 2 emissions AFTER purchasing RECs: 0.00 mtCO2e
Scope 3 (Indirect Emissions): As far as downstream activities go (seen in the diagram above), we don’t manufacture products, don’t have any leased assets and haven’t made any investments, so nothing to report there and deemed irrelevant. However, we do have some upstream activities that contribute to our carbon footprint, and are described below:
Purchased Goods & Services: As far us upstream activities, Emerger Strategies has a green purchasing policy, such as green cleaners, FSC-Certified & 100% recycled paper, Energy Star printer, laptop & appliances as far as purchased goods go, but they are relatively insignificant as far as our carbon footprint.
Capital Goods: Irrelevant
Fuel and Energy-Related Activities: Because we don’t manufacture any products, we have a small carbon footprint related to fuel and energy related activities. We don’t have a way to calculate our GHG emissions from our website, so we used an online calculator that provided an estimate of our website GHG emission, which is: 0.18 mtCO2e, which is the equivalent of the amount of greenhouse gases that 9 trees sequester in a year.
Transportation & Distribution: Irrelevant
Waste Generated in Operations: I do generate waste at my home, but if you separate my business waste from my home waste, my business waste is next to none and deemed irrelevant. What waste is generated is either recycled or composted.
Business Travel: We did account for the GHG emissions associated with business travel in 2019, which was a total of 3.64 mtCO2e, and we purchased carbon offsets from recovery landfill gas and with the purchase of RECs from a solar farm in Georgia.
Employee Commuting: I work from home, so irrelevant.
Leased Assets: Irrelevant.
- 2019 Scope 3 emissions BEFORE purchasing Offsets: 3.82 mtCO2
- 2019 Scope 3 emissions AFTER purchasing Offsets: 0.00 mtCO2
I am very proud to be able to announce that my company is carbon neutral! I have done just about everything I can do from an energy efficiency standpoint at my home/office, including: adding insulation, installing Low-E windows, and all of my kitchen and office appliances are Energy Star rated. I’d like to put solar on my roof, but am still saving up for that, so in the meantime, the next best option is to purhase offset my and Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs).
Carbon offsets and RECs aren’t the best climate solutions, but they are the best solution available today. Why is purchasing offsets and RECs not the best solution you might ask? It’s kind of like recycling, right? To truly end the plastic pollution problem we need to outright refuse it and stop producing it, but in the meantime, recycling is our next best option. It’s the same with RECs. In order to truly solve the climate crisis, we need to stop drilling for fossil fuels, but in the meantime, creating a market that supports renewable energy is our next best option.
In total, we purchased carbon offets and RECs to account for the 9.11 mtCO2e we emitted in 2019, which is the equivalent of the CO2 emissions from burning 10,038 pounds of coal, 1.1 homes’ energy use for one year, or 1,161,819 smartphones charged.
I believe carbon neutrality is a goal every business should set, but just as renewable energy or RECs aren’t the only climate solutions, I also believe that reforestation will increasingly play a critical role in solving the climate crisis as human population continues to grow. So, in an effort to not only account for the GHG emissions associated with our 2019 carbon footprint, we have also become an official reforestation partner of One Tree Planted. I am proud to say that we have planted 100 trees in Florida so that we are actually giving back more than we take! Going forward we are planting 10 trees for every new client brought on in 2020!
Want to save the planet by going Carbon Neutral too?
At Emerger Strategies, we provide sustainability consulting services and work with our clients to develop a strategic sustainability plan that includes carbon neutral and zero waste strategies, among other sustainability and social initiatives that positively impact their economic bottom line. If you’d like to learn more about going carbon neutral, contact us today for a free 30 minute consultation.
Additionally, I am excited to announce that in 2020 (and beyond), Emerger Strategies will be hosting a series of Sustainable Business Workshops at select fly fishing lodges in the US and Caribbean. We have a few in the works, but the first official Sustainable Business Workshop will be hosted at Tailwater Lodge located in upstate New York in November 2-6, 2020. Attendees can expect 3 days of fly fishing, sustainable business education and training and walk away ready to begin their own sustainability journey towards zero waste, carbon neutrality and more! Additional Sustainable Business Workshops and locations will be added shortly, so stay tuned!