As an entrepreneur or sole trader with sustainable ambitions, you naturally want to do as little harm as possible with your business activities, but zero waste, CO2 emissions, environmental pollution or resource use may be a nice idealistic aspiration, but in practice it is not really feasible as a business. And so you can offset your business activities. In this article, we would like to tell you more about it and give you some ideas on how you can start doing this.
Offsetting your business activities: is it possible?
Even if you are ‘only’ a sole trader or a small business, you still make a negative impact with the raw materials you use to buy and make your products, the energy consumption at home and data centres that keep your website up and running, the transport of your packages and yourself for business appointments, and the list goes on. All your business activities together or part of them - just what you can and want to spare - you can offset.
CO2 offset projects: there are many differences
There is a lot to do about offsetting CO2 emissions. It appears to be a shadowy world with many questionable offsetting projects. For instance, there are stories of multiple certificates being sold in South America for one forest or certificates being issued from forests that have been there for years. As a result, nothing has actually changed except that we have started emitting more and bought it off with a paper lie. If a project does fall into line, you also have little security. Because there are often no guarantees about the duration of a project. Whereas to really compensate, you need the certainty that those trees will remain standing for at least decades. But you don't have that certainty because of deforestation, forest fires and changing regimes that may have other plans.
That doesn't make choosing an offset project any easier. Moreover, your business causes more damage than just CO2 emissions. How do you deal with that when making a calculation? Still, there are some things you can pay attention to.
In search of the better compensation projects
The first step is: look for better offset projects for your company. In fact, there are labels for offset projects. You can also look at annual reports. These show what organisations have done with the donated money. We also understand that as a business owner, you have more to do, so let's keep it easy and focus on the labels you can look out for if you want to offset your business activities. Hallmarks to keep an eye on are:
- Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) climate compensation: this seal shows that they actually use the money for climate compensation through projects such as wind turbines or forest planting.
- Central Bureau of Fundraising (CBF), charity regulator: they monitor whether recognised charities meet strict quality requirements.
- Gold Standard: an international label established by the World Wildlife Fund, among others. The label is awarded to projects that ensure sustainable developments with the aim of reducing CO2 emissions.
All your business activities can be compensated by giving money to good compensation projects.
How (severely) do you compensate?
Furthermore, it matters how much you donate. Because the size/amount of your compensation naturally determines whether it is somewhat proportional to what you as a polluter - excusez le mot - have done. For this, you can join a professional organisation that uses strict rules and guidelines to monitor how much you are offsetting and whether that is in line with their vision. Many sustainable companies therefore join the movement ‘1% for the planet’, where they donate 1% of their sales to charity. This is a great movement that, once joined, you can be proud to be a member of and will reflect positively on your business. You have probably seen this logo on a website or on the packaging of a sustainable product. Or you opt for a more informal form and compensate yourself for what you find reasonable or can do without with the help of the various organisations' calculation modules.
Thegreenlist.nl supports the Wadden Association
On the release of my book NIKS NIEUWS I am a collaboration with the Wadden Sea Association entered into, under which I will donate 1% of my book's profits to them. Furthermore, I compensate for my travel through Trees for All.
Tips to offset your business activities
- Atmosfair: a German non-profit organisation that aims to reduce CO2 emissions by investing in renewable energy projects worldwide. Want to offset a business flight? Atmosfair allows you to enter more details about your flight such as the type of aircraft making by calculation slightly more accurate.
- Carbonkiller: here you can buy emission allowances. Large companies need emission allowances to emit CO2, for which they pay a lot of money. If you buy up allowances and destroy them to offset your CO2 emissions, you make sure that the price of these allowances goes up (because higher demand drives up the price). This is a financial incentive for companies to become more sustainable faster, so they need fewer precious emission allowances.
- Cool Earth: is committed to rainforest conservation. Rather than planting new trees, preserving existing nature is important, because the older a tree, the more CO2 it retains.
- Justdiggit: Their goal is to green Africa and in this way cool the earth again. They do this in collaboration with local people.
- Trees for All: is committed to restoring nature and forests and planting new forests and food forests in the Netherlands and around the world.
- Les Emissions: tip from an Instagram follower living in Canada. This is a certified Canadian organisation that allows you to offset air travel, boat trips or tonnes of CO2. They are part of a green energy company.
Compensating for your business trip?
Are you a business traveller and regularly make a flight you want to compensate? Then take a moment to read the article in which we a calculation have made to get a better idea of a more realistic amount. Do not be alarmed, as a more realistic flight compensation is much higher than the airlines would have you believe.
Need more tips and help?
Maybe you have been doing business for a while, or maybe your initiative is still in its infancy. Either way, with the guide for starting entrepreneurs, we would like to help you on your way with the administrative side, so you can do what you do best: make your idea a success! Because say it yourself, it's a nice idea when the administrative basics are all in order. With the help of this guide, you will have everything you need to organise your company's bookkeeping properly, learn good habits and, as a bonus, we will also share with you how you can do business a little more consciously. We got you!
For 13.50 euros, you have this lifesaver directly to your inbox and so on your tablet or mobile phone! Order the guide for start-ups in our webshop!
More sustainable business tips from thegreenlist.nl
- Sustainable office design does not have to be expensive. We'll show you how to do it!
- Could you still use some help with your bookkeeping? Then check out these accounting tips!
- Are you lying awake about the legal side of your business? After reading this article you know what to do to get back to a good night's sleep.
Photo credits main image: Amina Filkins, Tim Douglas & Shkrabaanthony (Pexels). Other: Kervin & Ron Lach (Pexels),
