The size of our carbon footprint has been a discussion point for decades; however, the recent rise of a worldwide eco-friendly agenda has increased the importance of finding small simple actions we can each individually take which have a huge impact collectively and eventually achieve carbon neutrality.
For business owners, the thought alone of reducing your carbon footprint can be daunting and overwhelming, but don’t sweat it – there’s a never-ending list of things you and your organisation can do to reduce your carbon footprint which will help pave the way to carbon neutrality.
From the small scale of just turning the taps and lights off when not in use, to large-scale of only buying products that are manufactured carbon neutrally, any step you take, no matter how big or how small, will have a large and positive impact on the planet if we all do the same.
So, before we get into anything, we need to address the killer question; what does carbon neutral actually mean?
What does Carbon Neutral mean?
Carbon neutral means counteracting carbon emissions with carbon removal to achieve net zero. It doesn’t mean you’ve not emitted any carbon, just that any which has been emitted has been off-set.
How to have a Carbon Neutral despatch process
As well as the classic small-scale personal suggestions of turning off taps and lights when they’re not in use, there’s two really simple ways you can have a larger-scale difference by updating your despatch process. The first solution is to choose a carbon neutral courier for all of your despatches, like DPD, who operate a zero carbon offsetting scheme for all deliveries. The second solution is taking a look at your business’ packaging – if you go for a carbon neutral manufacturer, net-zero emissions are much more achievable, so here’s our top picks for your operation:
ColomPac Book Wraps
ColomPac book wraps provide an excellent sustainable packaging solution. Not only consistently delivering brilliant protection, cardboard book mailers are widely recognised by your customers as made from easily recyclable and biodegradable materials, and are made completely climate neutrally so your despatches could have a zero-carbon footprint. Secure, robust, and eco-friendly can be hard to come by in the world of packaging, but not with these cardboard mailers – easily adjustable to the exact depth of whatever you’re packing to ensure a super snug fit and eliminating the need for extra packaging for void fill.
ColomPac Postal Tubes
If you send posters or rolled documents, you’ll most likely be using postal tubes for your despatches. ColomPac Square Postal Tubes and Trapezium Postal Tubes are an excellent eco-friendly and innovative swap; not only plastic free due to the integrated cardboard end caps, but are able to be sent as parcels instead of tubes or ‘uglies’ through the courier network. Completely recyclable, biodegradable, made from FSC approved sources, and carbon neutrally so you can feel safe in the knowledge that your business’ packaging is having no negative impact on the planet.
Top Tip – ColomPac
For those of you who know us already, you’ll know that we simply love all things ColomPac, and for those of you that don’t know us already, it won’t take long for you to realise why. Whatever your needs, we’re confident there’ll be a solution in the ColomPac range; not only do they continue to produce outstanding packaging time and time again, but they do it in the most efficient and eco-friendly way possible. A completely carbon neutral company, which is just one of the reasons why we’re extremely proud to be the UK’s leading service partner.
Padded Envelopes
Padded envelopes are an essential for thousands of eCommerce operations, combining a strong level of protective bubble lined interior with a robust paper outer; a brilliant low-cost mailing solution which doesn’t add to your postal costs. Even with the plastic bubble wrap inside these bags, they’re as eco-friendly as they can be otherwise. The paper outer of all of our Bubble Lined Bags® are made from FSC approved sources, and are all manufactured carbon neutrally, helping you to achieve a goal of a zero carbon footprint.
Paper Mailing Bags
Paper mailing bags do an excellent job of protecting pre-packaged goods or non-fragile items in transit which may have typically been sent in poly mailers, but in a much more eco-friendly paper mailer. Fully recyclable and biodegradable as made entirely from paper, paper mailing bags are also made climate-neutrally. With 79% of all plastic ending in either landfills or in the natural world, making this simple eco-friendly packaging swap for your despatches would dramatically reduce the impact your business, as well as the impact all of your customers have on the environment.
Carbon neutral packaging and despatch are really just the beginning for your business to reduce its carbon footprint. To go completely carbon neutral, take the following steps:
How to become a Carbon Neutral business
- Calculate your carbon footprint – Use an online calculator to work out the size of the carbon footprint associated with you or your business.
- Follow our top tips to reduce your carbon footprint – Get composting, recycling, and reducing your thermostat!
- Offset the remaining carbon by investing in a cause or programme that actively reduces global carbon emissions – One unit of CO2 has the same climate impact wherever it is emitted, the benefit is the same wherever it is reduced or avoided too. Whether it’s protecting rainforests in Sierra Leone, providing efficient cookstoves in Kenya or powering communities with renewable energy in China, find a project you’d like to support and offset your emissions.
- Talk about it – Tell your colleagues, tell your customers, and don’t stop encouraging others to follow your lead.
These are just four of the carbon neutral packaging solutions available to you, so don’t worry if you haven’t seen one here which is right for your business. Take a look at all of our carbon neutral packaging products below:
Ask The Experts
By working together to reduce our carbon emissions and encourage business owners to do what they can to go carbon neutral, we’re paving the way to a greener future for us all. We hope this has given you all the information you could need to know about achieving a zero-carbon footprint, and probably a little bit more too. We pride ourselves on our service and sharing our knowledge wherever possible, so if you have any questions then please speak to us on live chat, give us a call on 01622 580100, or use our Contact page.
eCommerce operations are our speciality and we can advise on all aspects of despatch to assist you in perfecting your process, so please get in touch – we’ll be happy to help.