Best Foot Forward

Daniel Elkan is a journalist who has been writing for several years about better travel options to reach the slopes, but he became frustrated by the lack of any coherent travel planning resources. So, with a number of partners, Daniel developed snowcarbon.co.uk to enable skiers to plan their travel to different resorts by train.

Here at BFF we really liked his idea, which provides a solution to promote low carbon travel. We offered support in kind, with calculations of comparative emissions to reach each resort by different modes. Of course the resorts themselves still have a significant environmental impact, but research has shown that  travel is the most significant source of emissions and snowcarbon offers a neat solution to help skiers to reduce their footprints. You can visit snowcarbon to learn more, and to book your ski trip by train.

A growing percentage of Reed Elsevier's revenue comes from the online part of their business – over 50% last year compared with 37% in 2006 - and so they consider it important to properly assess the environmental impacts of new delivery methods.

The study looked at the full life cycle impact of production: preparation, typesetting, printing/distribution, online hosting, and end user behaviour. We reviewed the overall impact of production (both direct such as utilities/fuel use and indirect such as materials and waste) utilising two years of data to compare the efficiency of both delivery channels. 

As a result of the study, Reed Elsevier are tackling business travel and commuting emissions (a very significant part of the product footprint). They are also surveying online customers to see if a tool providing advice on the environmental impact of their usage behaviour would be of interest.

Other recommendations included licensing remote journal printing for paper copy subscribers which would cut carbon emissions by 11%.

A summary of our report is available here.

To offset these emissions Jamie helped fund a number of projects with Climate Care - including one to improve the energy efficiency of cooking stoves in Cambodia. This is believed to be the first time a TV travel series has become 'carbon neutral'.

'Jamie's American Roadtrip' visited New York, Los Angeles, Arizona, Louisiana, Georgia and Wyoming over an eight-month shoot but often with long gaps between each location. The series will be shown on Channel 4 in September - with a book to follow.

The debate over the impact of bottled water is almost as old as the geology which filters the product ...

For many the environmental impact of bottled drinking water has become symbolic of a wasteful society that consumes fossil fuel-intensive products when lower impact alternatives exist.

Conversely, those who support bottled water consumption point to health and taste advantages – and say that by buying locally you can minimise transport impacts and help protect British countryside and rural employment. Bottled water advocates also say that their product is often purchased as a substitute for highly processed soft drinks - which have a similar carbon footprint, but aren't targeted in the same manner.

A few clarifications about The Standard article worth noting:

The article was written without input from BFF, and consequently shows a degree of journalistic interpretation. For example: "The study warns that Parliament is damaging the environment by refusing to use only tap water." As environmental accountants we present results objectively and allow clients to come to their own conclusions, with this quote being the conclusion of the journalist. 

Also - the article says that a 750ml bottle of water emits 300 times more emissions than the equivalent volume of tap water. This comparison was not taken from our report - and we do not know the source of these figures.

You can read the article for yourself here.

The beef story is a fine example of the challenge facing environmental accountants when GHG emissions have to be allocated to co-products which result from a single system. The ENDS article (pp22-23) carries a quote from Nicky: “Rules governing how emissions are allocated between co-products are complex and not standardised, meaning it is possible to get quite a range of answers depending on your approach." She added: "It is good practice to disclose these assumptions”. The lack of this disclosure prompted Nicky to suggest the Asda media release may be “a triumph of reallocation over reduction” - a comment ENDS decided not to include!

BFF's work for LOCOG, ODA and LDA for over two years doing the total carbon footprint and carbon management strategy for the Games, was also recognised on p22 of the supplement.

The study, which concentrated on the manufacturing and transportation stages of bottle production, highlighted annual potential savings of 3,000 US tons of greenhouse gases (c. 14% of the footprint associated with current claret and burgundy-style bottle production & transportation). The news has been picked up by Green Biz and Packaging Digest websites.

The study, which was based on the assumption that cartridges are remanufactured an average 3.5 times, only looked at production versus remanufacturing. It did not examine questions over apparent poorer print quality of refilled cartridges - something manufacturers say will make these savings less impressive as paper wastage would be increased. However research in this area is still ongoing and so this debate is likely to continue for some time!

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.