We calculated our carbon footprint – these are the steps we’re taking next

Now we have the numbers: the yearly carbon footprint of our whole Idea Group organisation is 99,226 kg CO2e. This means that last year, one Idea Crew member produced 3,675 kg of CO2e emissions. Is it a lot or not? It equals approximately 1/3 of the average annual carbon footprint of a Finn. The target level of a carbon footprint by 2023 is 2,500 CO2e, so there is still work to do, even for us.

Carbon footprint is becoming more and more important as an indicator for companies to understand and reduce their environmental impact. We can analyse our companies’ energy and material consumption and estimate the emission levels only through increased understanding. More importantly, calculating the carbon footprint reveals the most environmentally problematic functions and allows us to address them.

Electronics – the big bad wolf at the office

According to our calculations, the most significant sources of emissions were various acquisitions, including digital, banking, and financial services (79%). The three biggest sources in this category are leasing (approx. 32%), digital services (27%), and banking and financial services (approx. 12%). Business travels and commuting produced 17% of all emissions.

Waste management was omitted from the calculations because our landlord could not provide the necessary information. Naturally, we recycle all the waste we produce properly and have invested in guidance and recycling bins at our offices.

We also omitted from the calculations the events we organise for our clients. However, we offer them the possibility to calculate the carbon footprint of their events as a separate service. Our goal is, together with our clients, to pay attention to the emission sources, make environmentally wise decisions, and reduce the carbon footprint of events.

How do we reduce our carbon footprint from now on?

These are the tangible things we will be paying attention to:

Working: The possibility of working remotely continues. Hybrid work has been an option for us for a long time, and the right to remote work is not restricted. We only ask our employees to come to the office for joint training days, arranged 2–3 times a month.
Commuting: We offer company bicycles and support the use of public transportation.
Leasing: We pay attention to the leasing periods of our leased equipment and possibly start using recycled equipment. We have instructed our personnel on acquiring new equipment, their lifecycle, and their renewal times. We aim to extend the lifecycle of our equipment and choose the appropriate equipment for each purpose. For instance, a content producer can work efficiently without having a powerful laptop aimed at graphic design.
Meals: We replace meat dishes with more plant-based meals for our internal events.
Subcontractors: We engage and commit our subcontractors to our sustainability goals.
Storing: We have launched a stock accounting system to enhance the circular economy in event production. This will increase the stock turnover rate and help us avoid buying things we already have. In the future, we can also start renting out decorations.