How to reduce your carbon footprint

Climate change affects us all, so making your business more environmentally friendly is not only the responsible thing to do, but it will also benefit your business. According to market research, consumers are 58% more likely to buy products or services from business who have an eco-friendly and sustainable policy. We believe that a low carbon footprint is a reflection of efficient business management.

Going green doesn’t have to be expensive or difficult. Here are five things you can do to reduce your business carbon footprint.

Taking the shortest route between two points not only saves time, but also reduces fuel use and emissions. It also means less money spent on fuel.

Effective route planning maximises your business vehicle usage, improving productivity and negates the need to add more vehicles to meet increasing demand. Optimisation also ensures that the nearest vehicle is dispatched, meaning no long waits for your client and less time on the road for your drivers.

You can easily avoid unnecessary mileage with free route planning tools such as e-route. E-route is a service station locator which helps customers of fuel cards find the closest petrol station along their route. It can help drivers avoid long detours for refuelling, and congestion with live traffic updates.

Your drivers have an important role to play in minimising fuel usage and reducing your business’ carbon footprint. Incidents of aggressive driving, harsh braking, speeding and excessive idling waste fuel and produce higher emissions. Studies have shown that aggressive driving style can result in an increase in emissions by 40%.

Fitting your vehicles with a telematics system, or introducing fuel cards with an account management tool will give you an insight into driver behaviour and indicate those who may benefit from additional training.

Not only does the adoption of eco-driving techniques help cut fuel consumption, but it also generates safer drivers with reduced risk of accidents and unwanted downtime as a result.

Ensuring your company’s emission count is as low as possible is more important than ever. Mandatory greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting has been implemented in 40 countries worldwide for businesses, in a bid to reduce carbon emissions. Legislation varies from country to country as to which business types must report. For details please check with your local government.

Should your business be required to report your GHG, both telematics systems and fuel cards allow you to collect fuel usage and distance travelled. This means you can easily work out your GHG emissions, and set and measure reduction targets.

Monitoring also allows you to see any inefficiencies in your vehicles, so you can make any necessary changes to ensure your vehicles are performing at their best.

Scheduling regular maintenance for your business vehicles will ensure the clean and efficient running of engines. Even performing basic checks such as maintaining proper tyre pressure can improve fuel economy. A 2013 study by the Energy Saving Trust claims that driving with tyres under-inflated by 25% will increase fuel consumption by approximately 2%.

Incorrect tyre pressure also increases the wear and tear, meaning replacement tyres are required more frequently.

Replacing oil and fuel filters, and worn spark plugs, and using top quality fuel in your engines will help make vehicles more fuel efficient and help reduce harmful emissions.

By conducting regular inspections and maintenance, studies have shown a potential reduction of 35% in CO2 emissions.

As well as the methods already mentioned above, there are many other ways to reduce the amount of fuel your business vehicles use. Avoid rush hour traffic, and make your vehicles as aerodynamic as possible to reduce drag.