Best Foot Forward

BFF are warning aviation operators that they only have until 31 December 2009 to submit a monitoring plan if they want to be eligible for free allowances under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme. The allowances will be allocated anyway – so overall emissions are not affected – but the initial cost to aviation companies will be higher. BFF have been working closely with aviation experts ETS Aviation to provide carbon management and reduction services to the sector. A version of footprinter, Aviation Footprinter, is already helping companies to meet their requirements under the EU ETS and is being extended to provide broader support for carbon reductions.

Over the autumn BFF undertook a recruiting campaign to add new skills and resource to the team. We had a tremendous response to our advertisements, and have recruited three excellent new staff. In keeping with the international flavour of the company, our new recruits hail from China, Scotland and Australia. Luhui has joined our software team to support the growing demand for our Footprinter™ product, while consultants Rachel and Jacob will ensure BFF’s metrics and technical analyses continue to be combined with strategic insight. Staff profiles for Luhui, Rachel and Jacob have been added to our website today.

SEEDA have published an innovative interactive Guide aimed at providing local authorities within the South East the tools, information, ideas and inspiration they need to reduce their footprint and the footprint of their administrative area. Developed by BFF, in collaboration with Roger Levett (of levett-therivel) and Colin Tingle (of theNRgroup), the appropriately named ‘No Nonsense Guide’  gives straightforward practical advice, and is peppered with real life success stories, to illustrate how to make change happen.

Best Foot Forward are supporting the UK’s 10:10 campaign to get businesses, government and individuals to reduce their carbon emissions by at least 10% in 2010. As well as offering technical assistance to the 10:10 team, BFF are pleased to make available a FREE version of their popular Footprinter software which has been specially set-up to meet the campaign’s reporting requirements for businesses. Register for your free 10:10 version here. Learn more about footprinter.

BFF has been commissioned to look at the carbon footprint of satellite communications, such as television and internet services. Having previously footprinted various types of passenger and freight aircraft, helicopters and hot air balloons, the prospect of investigating the rocket-powered transport of satellites held no fear for our analysts... but it did yield its fair share of surprises.

Today is a big day at Best Foot Forward. We are launching our latest Footprinter™ carbon accounting software and supporting website. Footprinter™ has been in development for over three years now and has been used by many of our clients including Hertfordshire County Council and the Forestry Commission. We have also produced dedicated, standalone editions for clients including FIRA, Amec, and Chicago2016. Visit Footprinter.com for product insight, demonstrations and instant access to free versions of Footprinter™.

Personal travel and particularly flying are major sources of greenhouse gas emissions, as we know. Winter ski trips are hugely popular, but from the UK the most common mode of travel is still by plane even when many European resorts can be readily reached by train.

Apologies, it has been a prolonged absence from our ‘regular’ blog so we thought Friday 13th was a perfect date to start posting again. The period of silence (approaching two months now!) has been caused by a furious flurry of activity within the company. We have recruited two new consultants to add skills and capacity, particularly for our more strategic work, and have been kicking off a host of exciting new projects. In the coming weeks, we will be launching our latest Footprinter™ enterprise carbon accounting software, and will be updating our site with staff profiles, recent case studies, new content...and of course regular blog entries.  

On Friday September 25th, humanity will officially have demanded all the ecological services – from filtering CO2 to producing the raw materials for food – that nature can produce this year. In other words, more than three months before year end we will have consumed as much as the planet can sustainably provide in a year. To put it another way, to support our current level of global consumption we would need the earth to be about one-third larger.

We are looking to expand our team, and specifically are interested in employing a sustainability consultant who can assist with business development, project management and project delivery. The post is for someone to join our close-knit team and bring their own expertise and ideas to strengthen the work produced by BFF. For more information please download the job specification here, and we hope to hear from you.