VANCOUVER SUN - Small companies shrink their carbon footprints

Brian Morton, Vancouver Sun, Tuesday, December 11, 2007
A Vancouver-based grocery delivery company plans to reduce its carbon footprint by 10 per cent next year.

Small Potatoes Urban Delivery (SPUD) is one of 10 small businesses and non-profits that are participating in the first Carbon Neutral Workgroup for Small Business organized by Ecotrust Canada in partnership with the Pembina Institute. The idea is to help small businesses measure, shrink and offset their carbon footprint, while meeting consumer demand for climate-friendly products and services.

"We're committed to reducing our footprint in 2008 from our current level of 429 tonnes," SPUD president David Van Seters said at a news conference Monday.

"We [also] encourage telecommuting wherever practical," he added. "Some employees telecommute 100 per cent of the time, some one day a week. That is a very important way that business can reduce their carbon footprint."

Ecotrust president Ian Gill said that small business, as the "backbone of B.C.'s economy", has a significant role to play in cutting greenhouse gas emissions, and the 10 companies will reduce or offset their emissions on average by 64 per cent -- or about 1,000 tonnes of carbon -- next year. "That's about 360 cars taken off the street."

Gill said the 10 businesses in the pilot project have 235 employees and $22 million in annual sales.

Ignoring climate change is bad strategy for small businesses, he added, leading to poorer financial returns. The 10 firms in the Ecotrust initiative "are some of the smartest companies in the province."

Van Seters said other measures SPUD is taking include encouraging staff to shut off office equipment, converting to more fuel-efficient vehicles, and buying products locally so they don't have to be transported from a distance.

As well, he said, the company -- which has more than 6,000 customers and delivers throughout Metro Vancouver, Vancouver Island, Calgary and Seattle -- is investigating quicker and more efficient delivery routes, including avoiding some routes during rush hour.

The 10 businesses have a combined carbon footprint of 1,560 tonnes annually, with about 67 per cent coming from transportation, 17 per cent from electricity, 11 per cent from heating, and five per cent from other sources.

Reduction strategies include using more energy-efficient lighting, investing in newer energy-saving technologies, reorganizing logistics to save time and energy, and cutting paper consumption.

Another company that is lowering its carbon footprint is Woodland Flooring in Comox, a manufacturer of wideplank flooring.

"We use sustainably-harvested woods and our customers come to us because of this," company owner Steve Roscoe said at Monday's news conference. Our biggest impact [in greenhouse gas emissions] was our heating costs. We brought in a high-efficiency kiln and reduced our impact by 17 per cent this year."

bmorton@png.canwest.com

 

© The Vancouver Sun 2007

 


Categories: