Reducing Greenhouse Gases

Organizations

If you’re looking for ways to reduce your organization’s carbon footprint, contact us and we can help you take action on climate change and set you on the path to become Carbon Neutral or Climate Friendly with Offsetters.

Emission Facts

Below are some facts on GHGs and how you can reduce your individual footprint.

• In Canada, carbon emissions grew 19% from 1990 to 2017¹.
• A return flight from Vancouver to Toronto in economy class emits 1.1 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) per person.
• A non-stop return flight from Vancouver, Canada to London, England in economy class emits 1.6 tonnes of CO2e per person.
• Driving 20,000 km in a small passenger vehicle emits 4.5 tonnes of CO2e.
• Canada’s total greenhouse gas emissions in 2017 were 716 megatonnes of CO2e. This makes Canada’s per capita emissions, 19.5 tonnes CO2e, one of the highest in the world¹.

Simple Ways to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

• Fly less: Teleconference or video conference into your next board meeting. You’ll save money, time and emissions-producing travel.
• Drive less, drive smarter, or get a fully electric vehicle: Thinking about getting a new vehicle? Consider fully electric. They cost much less to fuel and maintain than a conventional vehicle, and their GHG emissions are significantly lower. Driving a gas or diesel powered vehicle? Keep your car tuned up. Make sure your tires are inflated. Stick to the speed limit and be gentle when you accelerate and brake. All these tricks will save on fuel, and on emissions. If you can, avoid using the car altogether—try riding your bike to work one day a week or taking transit.
• Eat less meat: Be meat-conscious and dairy-conscious—the livestock sector has an enormous impact on our planet including high emissions and forest destruction. 80% of current deforestation in the Amazon is from animal agriculture². Try going meat free one day per week! The average vegan diet has a footprint 60% lighter than meat-heavy diets.³
• Turn down your thermostat: By programming your thermostat to 20 degrees (Celsius) when you’re at home and 17 degrees when you’re out or asleep you can save up to 15% on your home heating bills⁴, and roughly 330kg of greenhouse gas emissions per year. That’s like cutting out a 1,550 km drive – from Vancouver to San Francisco!
• Don’t waste food: Globally, one third of food is wasted, which required large amounts of water, land, and energy to produce. Get organized with your grocery shopping! The average Canadian household wastes 140 kgs of food each year at a cost of $1,100. The carbon footprint of Canada’s food waste is 9.8 million tonnes of CO2— the equivalent of 2.4 million cars on the road!⁵
• Cut back on consumption: Opt for retro clothes or slightly used furniture—you’ll save money and prevent the creation of more stuff. Consume mindfully—think twice about buying products that are not necessary and avoid environmentally harmful products like single-use plastics!
• Rinse and recycle: Sort and recycle all you can, and make sure your containers are cleaned to avoid contaminating other recyclables. Throwing the wrong garbage in the blue bins is costing recycling programs millions of dollars a year.⁶ That spoonful of yogurt left in the bottom of the container contaminates the whole load, which becomes destined for the dump.
• Improve your workplace efficiency: Switch your printer defaults to double-sided, black and white printing and use recycled paper. Install motion sensitive lights in bathrooms or copy rooms. Program computers and monitors to ‘sleep’ or shut off when not in use. Attend more of your off-site meetings by phone.
• Hang dry your clothes: Dryers use lots of energy. Hang dry your clothes and you’ll reduce your emissions. If you do use a dryer, clean the lint trap to help it run more efficiently.
• Give low impact gifts: Buying, wrapping and shipping create emissions at each stage. Gift certificates and gift cards can lower the impact of gift giving.
• Offset: Once you’ve done everything you can to reduce your footprint, it’s time to offset.

Footnotes

¹ Government of Canada; National Greenhouse Gas Emissions

² Washington Post; How Beef Demand is Accelerating the Amazon's Deforestation and Climate Peril

³ Vox; Study: Going Vegetarian Could Cut Your Footprint in Half

⁴ FortisBC; Energy Saving Tips

⁵ National Zero Waste Council; Food Waste in Canada

⁶ CBC; Many Canadians are Recycling Wrong, and its costing us millions