TCG’s Strategy for Offsetting and Reducing Our Carbon Footprint

As a Certified B Corp, TCG is committed to doing good in the community and the world. Making this commitment meant that we had to carefully examine the environmental impact of our company, particularly our carbon footprint and greenhouse gas emissions. As a small, office-based business, we do not directly produce emissions from fuel use as part of our business, so we are primarily concerned with what is called Scope 2 or 3 emissions—indirect CO2 emissions from electricity consumption and business travel and commuting.

To build on these initiatives, we have begun a greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory, tracking energy and water usage at headquarters. TCG is working with Terrapass, a carbon offset provider, to analyze our company’s impact and purchase offsets. To date we have made the following purchases:

Grass trimmed in the shape of footprints

  • Purchased 20mT of carbon offsets from the Business Carbon Offset Package on November 2, 2019 to compensate for emissions involved in the travel required for a company event.
  • Purchased 1mWh from the Renewable Energy Credit Package to offset TCG’s footprint per recommendation from Terrapass on February 20, 2020

In honor of B‑Corp month, we have purchased additional carbon offsets to address the average monthly footprint of all of our employees totaling 193.8 metric tons of C02 emissions. This is the equivalent of the carbon sequestered from 253 acres of forest in one year or the emissions of 21,807 gallons of fuel consumed. At Terrapass carbon offsetting supports landfill gas capture, clean energy from wind power, and anaerobic digesters that capture methane from farm waste.

Even before becoming a Certified B‑Corp, we understood the importance of sustainability and green policies, transferring the solar panels from our old to our new headquarters when we moved in 2018. In 2019, the 8382kWh of electricity used at headquarters produced 5.9 metric tons of carbon dioxide but this was offset through the solar panels which produced 8149 kWh, saving 5.8 metric tons. The solar panels did such a good job of offsetting our GHG emissions from energy that we only needed to purchase a small offset from Terrapass for our energy-use emissions. That wasn’t sufficient.

So we have begun tracking the mileage and fuel consumed by TCG employees through business travel. Gathering this data helps find ways to both reduce our carbon footprint and to offset travel. Alternative commuting options are helpful in this regard. In 2019, employees that worked from home, used public transportation, biked, and walked to work saved a combined 809,640 miles and almost 37,000 gallons of fuel.

It’s important to note that carbon offsetting doesn’t directly reduce our footprint, but the programs they support have social and environmental benefits and help keep us accountable for our GHG emissions. Offsets are an important part of any business’s strategy for reducing its environmental impact, and TCG will continue to work towards reducing our overall emissions.