A simple way to offset your carbon footprint

Please welcome our guest blogger, Britt Sutcliffe - Telecom for Charity Project Manager

Investing in renewable resources, carbon offsetting, using eco friendly appliances are all a spectacular way to support the environment. But where does your company obtain the funds to support such initiatives?

Cost of implementation is often the prime reason for a company deciding not to choose an eco friendly business model. The funds to pay for renewable energy sources or carbon offsetting must come from someplace, so why not use your company’s current voice and data expenditure to pay for these?

How?

The Telecom for Charity initiative (T4C) is very simple: Any telecom services procured through this initiative will generate a monthly donation of 5% to the environmental program(s) of your choice.

A simple example for a simple program.

A company of 15 people is generating an estimated 26 tons of CO2 per year for their daily building services (electricity and natural gas). To offset 26 tons you could plant 36 trees in Kenya ($516.59) or even donate to the Clean Energy Fund ($399.75).  The same company has an estimated monthly telecom bill of $1200. This includes their phone system, calling plans, and internet connection. The services procured through the T4C initiative will now be generating a monthly donation of $60 every month to the program of their choice, for a yearly total of $720; which is far more than suggested amount to offset their estimated carbon footprint.

Win, win, win.

You are now supporting the environmental cause of your choice, you are receiving the same, if not better, telecom services as you originally had, and all for no additional monthly cost to your company. 

Comments

[Cassandra Bennett]

This is a very interesting way to look at how your company can donate toward renewable resources. It helps build a business case as to how and why a company might consider turn over a new leaf! I think if you are green minded and need help getting your company on the same page then you should use Telecom for Charity to make your case. How can they deny the benefits?

[Curtis Calvin]

This sounds like a great program! It actually makes becoming eco friendly a worthwhile and doable project. From a consumer's perspective going green can be expensive, so I can see why businesses would shy away from undertaking the task of becoming green. This program seems to solve that problem.

[John Frenzl]

This is a good article. I believe for businesses and individuals to start acting on carbon reducing initiatives, the media needs to communicate more thoroughly on the cost benefit of "going green". Showing ways of saving energy and recycling are great, but since the cost of implementation seems to be the major hurdle preventing many from getting involved, showing the math is crucial. When people find out that they can actually save and be green at the same time, more people will get on board.

[Laura Levesque]

Yesterday, I attended the unveiling of Boulder County’s Sustainable Energy Plan (Colorado). I had the priviledge of meeting Heidi Vangenderen the Senior Advisor for Climate Change and Energy for Governor Ritter.

Heidi was quite interested in InterCall’s solution to help folks telecommute and the initiatives we’ve taken towards sustainable business practices. She would like us present to her and her advisors to educate people of the positive impacts of telecommuting and how it reduces one's carbon footprint. A recent government survey shows 34% of gov’t employees would telecommute if they could, however, currently telecommuting is virtually non-existent. Maybe they just need InterCall conferencing services to make telecommuting a reality.

[Anne Guenther]

Telecom for Charity certainly makes sense. This program makes it easy for the consumer to donate towards a Green initiative while at the same time get great telecom services (such as conferencing!). And for providers, it further creates a network of companies who have integrating Green into their busiess.