An SME's Guide To Reducing Your Carbon Footprint And Environmental Impact

• Published date: 06 May 2022
• Subject Matter: Environment, Energy and Natural Resources, Energy Law, Environmental Law, Oil, Gas & Electricity, Climate Change
• Law Firm: Retail Merchant Services
• Author: Retail Merchant Services

Our relationship with the world around us continues to change on a daily basis. People care a lot more about the impact we're having on the environment than they did a couple of decades ago, with green schemes, sustainability drives and heightened social pressure to take care of the world we share.

For all businesses, including SMEs, there's a sense of expectancy to ensure you're doing everything you can to keep your carbon emissions and other harmful environmental outputs to a minimum. If you run an SME and are unsure exactly how to do that, this guide is here to help.

Whether it's understanding exactly what kind of impact you're already having, or the desire to reduce the size of your footprint, we're here to help you move towards a business model which sees reductions on your impact on the environment.

CHAPTER 1 - UNDERSTANDING YOUR CARBON FOOTPRINT

To be able to address and decrease the size of your carbon footprint, it's important to first understand exactly what it is and how it can affect your business. Let's explore that now, as we get to grips with just how important lowering your CO2 emissions can be as an SME.

What is a carbon footprint and net zero?

You've probably heard the terms "carbon footprint" and "net zero" before - but how familiar are you with exactly what they mean?

Your carbon footprint is the collective name given to the amount of CO2 which your business produces and releases back into Earth's atmosphere. In a sense, it defines the amount of damage you're doing to the environment.

Net zero refers to the balance between the amount of greenhouse gases you put in the atmosphere and how much you actively remove. When what you're adding to the atmosphere is no higher than what you're taking out, you've achieved net zero.

A lot of businesses will try to reach this benchmark, as it's a solid indicator that they're taking their environmental impact seriously.

Benefits of being net zero as an SME

There's a good chance you want to take a step towards lower carbon emissions for purely ethical reasons. But that doesn't mean there aren't also a number of benefits to making the switch from a PR perspective. Here are some of the ways your SME might prosper:

• Appeals to employees, customers and partners
  Having the ability to shout about your net zero status will naturally make you more appealing to potential employees, customers and business partners. Modern consumers, workers and investors have become keener to buy from and deal with businesses...