The next step

To the Carbon Trust

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The PepsiCo report

[Document]

Reporting on green progress

The done thing

When green issues first came to the fore many businesses started to produce an annual report detailing their progress on a range of environmental parameters, such as carbon emissions, recycling, waste generation, energy and water use, renewable energy, etc.

Another trend is for companies to produce ever-longer and more elaborate reports, complete with glossy pictures, case studies and figures. It’s almost a case of the larger the report, the greener the business must be.

Get the numbers right

However, in a number of instances it appears that more effort has been put into the presentation than the fact finding. One study of 4,000 reports found them littered with inaccurate data and gaps - it even discovered one company had stated that it had a carbon footprint four times bigger than that of the world itself.

Is this an approach to follow?

Obviously, it’s vital to get your facts right. If you fail to do so - and especially if you’ve put a great deal of effort into promoting your figures - someone is bound to shoot them down publicly.

Producing a large document is a complete waste of time. No one wants to wade through 50-odd pages on recycling, road miles and renewable energy. What’s more, going to the effort of printing a long and glossy report is hardly the greenest move - something that won’t be missed by those looking to pour scorn on your efforts.

What to do

Tip 1. Rather than spending the time and expense producing and printing a document, make any reports that you do put together available digitally.

Tip 2. Keep it short and simple. A few pages should be more than enough to cover your progress on recycling and energy use each year.

Note. As global drinks firm PepsiCo proved, it’s possible to get the facts across on a single page (see The next step ).

What to report

Tip 1. Always promote your good side. For example, highlight if you have managed to cut your energy use significantly or reduced the amount of waste that’s sent to landfill.

Tip 2. Use standards that will be familiar to those who may be interested in your report. For example, if you’re looking to promote your carbon footprint, use a recognised means of making your calculations, such as free carbon footprinting software available from the Carbon Trust (see The next step ).

Waste of time?

Producing a report will help you to focus on your green progress, i.e. energy saving, so it’s not a waste of time. Plus, it will give you the opportunity to claim a green edge over your competitors.

For a copy of the PepsiCo report and a link to the Carbon Trust’s website, visit http://tipsandadvice-environment.co.uk/download (EN 10.08.07).