Season 2 of Scribe Academy™ recently saw Marc Munier, Founder & CEO of Ditch Carbon, take to the (virtual) stage to share his top tips on how local councils can track and reduce their carbon emissions.

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🔎Looking at a live example - Carnforth Town Council

From April 2021 - March 2022, Ditch Carbon calculated that 55,623kg of carbon was emitted based on Carnforth Town Council’s expenditure data.

To put this into perspective, this is approximately the equivalent of:

• One new brick build house
• 50% of the average Britons lifetime emissions born today 
• 4 business class trips to USA
• Savings from loft insulation over 40 years

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🚗Categorising emissions

Scope 1 - these are direct emissions on site (e.g. putting fuel into your vehicle)

Scope 2 - these are generated to provide utilities (e.g. electricity)

Scope 3 - everything else! For most organisations, around 85% - 95% of emissions fall within this Scope

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Here are some of Marc’s tips on how to cut your carbon footprint

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⚡Change energy supplier

There are two types of green energy tariffs - actual renewable tariffs sold by companies such as Good Energy, Octopus & Ecotricity and then other renewable tariffs (most noticeably British Gas) that do not use renewable energy for their renewal tariff. RGGO certificates allow companies to purchase another company's production of renewable energy but overall do not have a positive impact on climate change.

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🥵Control air conditioning/heating

Reducing the thermostat by a couple of degrees can create a great positive impact - there is even technology that only heats a building when occupants are there which can be great for cost savings as well as carbon savings.

It is also very important to maintain air conditioning - poorly maintained air conditioners are inefficient and more likely to leak the refrigerant gases that can be 10, 20 or 30x more damaging than carbon dioxide.

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🌐 Eco web hosting

Servers are incredibly carbon intensive and are often fueled by the cheapest method possible. Ask your server providers to ensure they are not using bad energy to power your website and consider whether you could look to a greener alternative.

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⏯️ Missed the event or want a replay?

For more carbon saving tips, you can watch Marc’s talk on cutting your climate impact.

You can also download a copy of the slides.

📖 Resources:

Ditch Carbon Blog

Opening the Conversation With Your Suppliers - Email Example

Interesting Read - “How Bad Are Bananas? The Carbon Footprint of Everything”

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