As we round up the year, there’s no better time for us to think about the highlights of the last 12 months along with where we want to make improvements for the year ahead.
What your individual plan may look like as a business will differ from your competitors. But something we can all agree on is that carbon emissions, specifically how we can all reduce ours remain a top priority for everyone.
During 2022, we saw yet more evidence that our planet is struggling, including freak weather events such as the heatwaves we had here in the UK, not to mention yet more floods elsewhere in the world.
While the climate emergency can often feel overwhelming to comprehend, let alone act upon, we think the best strategy forward is to focus on what we can do.
So here are our top pointers on how to reduce carbon emissions in 2023 to help inspire positive changes in your organisation as well as on a personal level.
Take The Time To Understand Your True Carbon Emissions
It’s impossible to make changes big or small unless each of us understands the impact we have on the environment.
As a business, your products or services have a lifecycle. In this lifecycle, everything from what is involved to make that product to the point it is no longer needed by your users counts in terms of emissions.
Even for digital products, you need a team to build and maintain your assets. You may send thousands of emails, create video marketing campaigns or have a website. Each of these things adds up and generates emissions as they do so.
For any business, the challenge is painting a full picture of any carbon emissions, including confronting any difficult truths about wasteful practices that have been ignored for too long.
Appoint A Sustainability Officer
Without someone actively overseeing your sustainability efforts as a business, it’s easy for your progress to stall or even backtrack.
Appointing an official sustainability officer, whether this is a dedicated role or an add-on role for the CEO or a similar person of authority is essential.
Accountability is the name of the game here. Namely, not allowing the issue of climate to sit on the back burner. Plus, being able to track your progress over time, so you can show demonstrable improvements to customers, stakeholders and the wider public.
Create A Carbon Emissions Reduction Action Plan
Now you know where your business stands in terms of carbon emissions, what steps can you put in place to reduce these emissions, and practice carbon offsetting where reductions aren’t possible?
Use the tangible data your business has on its carbon emissions, along with the carbon emissions of your industry as a whole. From there, you can look to become industry leaders in terms of implementing positive change.
Taking the events industry as an example, with a sustainable independent body such as isla. They recognised that putting on events, from flying attendees in from around the world to having promotional stands that had no purpose after the event itself wasn’t good enough. Working with various brands and organisations, events are beginning to become far more sustainable thanks to isla’s dedicated work.
Whatever your business model or industry – it’s time for you and all of us to do the same.
Switch To A Sustainable Marketing Platform
Some 300 billion emails are sent every single day. Research by the BBC found that emails generate around 4g of carbon emissions, rising up to 50g for emails with large attachments.
A huge issue is that many businesses and even everyday individuals simply don’t realise the impact of digital marketing on climate change, especially when it comes to sending emails.
It’s not realistic to stop sending emails tomorrow. But what is realistic and indeed now possible is to send emails that generate fewer carbon emissions.
Plus, to use email in a much more intelligent, data-led way, so that the emails you are sending are actually having an impact on your business goals. This is in stark contrast to sending lots of emails, hoping at least one will generate success because there’s no substance in your methodology.
Remain Open To Learning And Improving
In business, you are constantly learning.
For instance, say you have been in business for 10 years. There’s probably quite a lot that has changed in terms of things you’d do differently now compared to when you first started.
Learning about global challenges is much the same, in that it requires an open conversation we all partake in to understand how we can have the most impact.
Recently, we joined the Good Business Charter based on our work to build a better business in terms of our team, our customers, local communities as well as the planet.
We’d definitely encourage all business founders new and old to consider how they too can make a difference. That’s because by keeping the conversion going we are more likely to see the change that is desperately needed to bring carbon emissions down.
EcoSend By GoSquared – Email Marketing For Climate-Conscious Businesses
When it comes to how to reduce carbon emissions in 2023 – the answer is doing everything we can as businesses or individuals to become greener and cleaner.
If your business relies on email marketing, then EcoSend by GoSquared is here to clean up your campaigns, without having to compromise on any of the tools you need to best understand, convert and delight your subscribers.
Sign up to EcoSend today and we’ll plant a tree on behalf of your business just for signing up. Commit to a package, and we’ll continue to plant trees on your behalf. EcoSend runs on renewable energy and invests its profits back into climate-conscious causes, making it the ideal solution to help your business reach its sustainability goals starting today.
Have any questions on how EcoSend by GoSquared can help your business reach its climate objectives? Contact the GoSquared team and we’ll be in touch.
