Bringing sustainability down to earth

Best Foot Forward

The Queens Award Carbon Accounting Ecological Footprinting Sustainability Consultancy Tools Training Business Case for Sustainability Carbon Footprint Ecological Footprint Policy Context News In The Media Partners Publication Clients and Case Studies Contact Us Staff Our Story

BFF Blog

The environmental accounting sector is rapidly changing and we are constantly researching developments to stay up to date. The “Best Foot Foreword” page shares some of our findings on recent developments in the sector, media reports and our news. If you would like to be kept up to date on our blog, subscribe to our RSS feed.

Showing entries 71 to 80 of 97

RSS RSS Feed

changing_world

"Ecolicide"

Mon 29 Sep 2008

It may not have made it into the Oxford English Dictionary yet but the term "ecolocide" has been picked up by staff in our Oxford office. First heard on BBC Radio 4, the word refers to humankind’s apparently natural tendency to commit ecological suicide by living beyond natural limits. The term links in directly with BFF’s longstanding commitment to promoting and using the ecological footprint as a measure of sustainability. The ecological footprint goes beyond an assessment of greenhouse gas emissions and tries to capture a broader range of environmental impacts (see Sharing Nature’s Interest; ecological footprints as an indicator of sustainability).

changing_world

Earth's ecology in the red

Wed 24 Sep 2008

The 23rd September was officially named Earth Overshoot Day - the day humanity finally used up all the resources nature will generate this year, the Global Footprint Network reports. As such, Earth Overshoot Day marks the day when humanity begins living beyond its ecological means: we move into the ecological equivalent of borrowing.

Globally, we now require the equivalent of 1.4 planets to support our lifestyles. But of course, we only have one Earth. The result is that our supply of natural resources - like trees and fish - continues to shrink, while our waste, primarily carbon dioxide, accumulates.

 

Whereas the fall of Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac made headlines worldwide in September, Overshoot Day passed by with little comment. We wonder which will have the longest lasting consequences?

Read more

media

BFF's footprinting work is well-recognised for its quality and robustness - so we are regularly asked to peer review other studies. One such request recently came from Building Magazine, who have enlisted us as expert reviewers of CSR and carbon emissions reports in the construction sector. Our aim is to use the column to promote transparency, highlight greenwashing and encourage more quantitative assessments of corporate environmental performance.

BFF reviews will be appearing bi-monthly. Our first assignment focuses on the Cement Sustainability Initiative, Tube Lines, NHS England and Upstream. The article is available online in two parts.

Read more

inside_bff

Best Foot Forward are delighted to be supporting the Planet Earth Season - a series of Oxfordshire events which will celebrate the richness and diversity of our environment and what we can do to preserve it. Highlights include breathtaking images in the 'Earth from the Air' exhibition at Oxford Castle. More information can be found on www.oxfordinspires.org.

inside_bff

A good time was had by all when BFF staff went off to Port Solent for a team-building exercise! We chartered three yachts and set off in blustery conditions to learn the ropes under the watchful eyes of our three professional skippers. Powered by nothing more than the wind, it would be difficult to imagine a more low carbon pastime – or would it?

BFF team sailingRecent research by BFF highlights the hidden carbon footprint of leisure boating. The sad reality is that most boats sit unused for much of the year in marinas which consume significant amounts of energy. Then there is travel to and from the boat – usually by car – which makes weekend sailing a significant carbon generator. Boat-building is also resource intensive and although limited data is available, boat manufacture is certainly responsible for more carbon emissions per unit than a car. It may last longer but, unless you are planning to set off into the bright blue yonder, your lifetime mileage will typically be much, much less than the family car.

 

So what lessons can be learned? BFF proposes: avoid power boats at all costs; take the train to the boat; maximise boat mileage by sharing ownership or chartering; and lobby your marina to reduce its carbon footprint. Oh, and a get a copy of World Cruising Routes - you never know where the wind might take you…

 

 

 

Read more

media

BFF Principal Consultant Simon Miller was recently interviewed by an analyst from Quocirca to provide his views on the significance of IT in the wider context of carbon footprinting. Simon commented on the tremendous interest in ‘green IT’ but highlighted crucial issues which have not been addressed - including the significance of embodied carbon in IT equipment relative to operational efficiency and normal equipment refresh rates. Quocirca were also impressed by BFF’s Footprinter and have included commentary on the tool in the final article published in IT Analysis.

bff_project

Counting the CO₂ST

Thu 11 Sep 2008

The central tenet of the new Green Alliance report ‘Fit for the future?’ is difficult to dispute: when the economy looks gloomy environmental policies take a back seat. However, in reality, this is the very time when businesses and government need to embrace resource efficiency and not shirk their environmental responsibilities.

One powerful approach to ensuring financial considerations are not independent of environmental impacts is through carbon pricing as a means of supporting internal decision making.   The recently published Defra methodology to do this is not without its faults, but BFF has worked closely with a Government economist to iron out these teething problems.

 

Following this work BFF has produced a simple-to-use online tool to help our clients get to grip with the application of the ‘shadow price of carbon’ - try our CO2ST calculator here.

Read more

media

A recent article in The Times online business section has featured Best Foot Forward as an example of a company beating the economic downturn in the South East.

 

The article says that: "By almost any measure, the southeast has the UK’s strongest regional economy outside London. Pockets of science-based and high-tech businesses are thriving, while there are green enterprises in Oxfordshire". BFF is cited alongside carbon off-setting firm ClimateCare as "evidence of good knowledge transfer between Oxford University and the local economy."

Read more

changing_world

BFF has been closely involved with assessing the environmental impacts of wine packaging, having completed projects for WRAP on bottle lightweighting and comparing PET to glass. Our studies found that reducing the weight of a particular material leads to a significant reduction in a bottle's carbon footprint, but reducing weight by switching from glass to plastic does not necessarily achieve carbon savings.

However, Packaging News this week reports one producer that is moving from glass to plastic - and claiming an associated 40% reduction in the carbon footprint of a bottle. BFF would be keen to review these calculations but we have been unable to find detailed reports to substantiate the figures presented. Perhaps even more interesting is the article’s reference to using aluminium – a very carbon intensive material – to make bottles instead. No comment is made in the article on the footprint of the aluminium bottles.

 

We hope all of these decisions have been underpinned by robust carbon footprint measurements which, crucially, have: drawn boundaries to include the full product life-cycle; used appropriate accounting rules and applied consistent assumptions when comparing packaging systems. 

Read more

changing_world

Not a day goes by without another celebrity or politician having their lives carbon footprinted ... and as the US presidential race heats up, American news organisations and bloggers have jumped at the opportunity to scrutinise the carbon impacts of their political elite.

In the past the not insignificant personal footprint of Al Gore, seasoned US politician and now the world's most famous (and travelled) climate campaigner, has been justified by means of 'intellectual offsetting' - a new term coined to write-off personal impacts for the greater good.

 

However bloggers have been less charitable to Senator John McCain, whose 7+ homes have been recently estimated to emit 150 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year - 10 times the footprint of an average American. Perhaps it's not surprising then that his Climate Change Plan makes no mention of reducing consumption - but instead relies solely on market-based cap-and-trade mechanisms and "advanced technology". Of course being apolitical there is no comment from BFF on which party we would like to see gaining power for the next four years...!  

Read more