Sustainability for small businesses: Beginners' guide to carbon footprinting

Taking action on the climate crisis and sustainability in general has never been more critical. And it's businesses that can lead the way to a brighter future – one that balances our economic, environmental, and social impact.

Businesses that do this can increase their value, become more adaptable, and support the nation's transition to net zero and a regenerative economy.

But while businesses are driving a lot of the innovation that's helping to move sustainability along, they are also major contributors to carbon emissions worldwide. So it's fair to say they have a big role to play in reducing these effects.

One way they can make this kind of progress is through carbon footprinting. The team at Planet Mark, an organisation that helps businesses achieve their sustainability goals, has produced a free toolkit to make cutting carbon emissions really straightforward. You can download it now.

Here's a short summary of this handy toolkit contains.

What is a carbon footprint?

An introduction to carbon footprinting as a concept. What does it even mean? The guide cuts through the jargon to lay out in simple plain English what carbon footprinting involves, and how you can start doing it today.

The business benefits, explained

Before you go ahead and make a start, of course you want to know how it's going to help you. This section of the guide details the advantages.

Emissions Scopes

The most widely accepted approach to carbon footprinting is to categorise emissions-releasing activity into three groups known as Scopes. The guide explains what Scopes are and how you can determine what type of emissions your own business might be responsible for.

How to collect your data

Your sustainability policy is unlikely to have much success if you aren't collecting carbon footprinting data in the right way. The guide lays out what you should be doing to make sure your measurements are consistent and accurate.

How Planet Mark can support with your data collection

Find out what Planet Mark can do to help you calculate your carbon footprint, and what its proven three-step process entails.

Download: Beginners' guide to carbon footprinting

Plan it with Purpose

A programme designed to help owners of small and medium-sized businesses develop a better understanding of environmental and social issues in the UK. Visit the Plan it with Purpose hub