Every business has limited resources. Hours, cash, product, energy, it’s all finite, and business owners need to be able to extract the maximum value possible from all their resources in order to turn a profit. And the same principles apply to waste! This is why restaurants have composting policies, why mechanics sell off scrap metal and recyclable plastics – to save resources from being pure wastage, and instead turn them into a small revenue source. Now, did you know this mentality can apply to your carbon emissions? Saving money and cutting your emissions down at the same time might sound outlandish, but we’ve seen it succeed first-hand. Here’s how.

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1. Stop leaving emission benefits on the table.

Everyday business projects (think improving freight efficiency, new machinery, reduction in business travel, leaner processes, etc) that reduce costs also tend to save emissions. If you can capture and measure the emissions data for existing projects in your reporting, you can start building a powerful positive message for your stakeholders, without any new capital. The first emissions win for most businesses is reporting on existing positive actions. Remember, your market audience doesn’t need you to be net zero from the start. They just want to see you making genuine efforts to improve.

2. Data drives new opportunities.

Emissions data is powerful business data. It comes from many of the sources of information that businesses use to make decisions. But the emissions perspective can also identify new opportunities for efficiency. These could relate to heating, power use, waste, fuel reduction, etc. We’ve seen amazing ROIs from projects instigated by emission insights. If your business has high energy use, fuel use, or waste, then it will have a strong opportunity for emission-led efficiency.

3. Keep compliance costs low for a fast payback.

The lower the cost of achieving emissions compliance, the fewer “wins” your business needs to demonstrate a payback. Ideally, you want a “no-brainer” decision, where business leaders don’t require detailed analysis to know emissions reporting is a good idea. Paybacks come in the form of removing the climate risk of winning tenders, meeting the needs of large customers, attracting high-talent employees, generating new sales from climate conscious customers, finding a small number of efficiency projects, creating a new competitive advantage, or simply mitigating compliance risk.

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Achieving full compliance with mandatory emissions standards takes time and effort, but it’s an investment that will guarantee returns in the long-term. If you’d like to learn more about building and implementing an emissions reduction and reporting program in your business, chat to our experts at help@carbonhalo.com.

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