HOW TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR CARBON FOOTPRINT WITHOUT BREAKING THE BANK (OR YOUR BACK) AND WHAT IT WILL DO FOR YOU IN RETURN.

When I was little, I used to beg my parents not to cut down trees. My parents weren’t regular tree cutters but if the tree was dead and needed to be removed, I would protest. I would do this in my neighbor’s yards, too.

The importance of trees was never overly preached in our household, so my parents really didn’t know where my need to be the protector of trees was coming from, except from somewhere deep within my soul. We all have that in us.

I believe that where your talents and the needs of the world intersect, that is where you are always meant to be. My love of trees and math led me to get a degree in Sustainable Architecture and I use that degree in my self titled role of an “Environmental Mathematician”. I joke that I am Mother Earth’s accountant. I now run the environmental nonprofit We Are Neutral. We Are Neutral has 15 years of experience helping businesses and individuals understand, track, reduce, and offset their comprehensive carbon footprints, giving them the opportunity to take responsibility for their environmental impact to achieve carbon neutrality and/or Net Zero. And we are starting to work with a number of swim schools. This industry takes its people and its planet very seriously, and those are my kind of people.

With 15 years under our belt, we feel like it’s time we share our thoughts on what we can all be doing to restore balance to our planet.

Understand Your Carbon Footprint

We believe you can only improve what you can measure, so when a business approaches us with the desire to take responsibility for their environmental impact, we begin the partnership with a thorough assessment of their energy use, water consumption, traveling habits, supply chain, waste disposal, and more to understand the amount of pollution associated with their operations. That gives us an impact figure to work with, to start from, and to reduce.

To ensure we’re all on the same page, I can also share our definitions behind these terms.

Carbon Footprint: (noun) A representation of the total greenhouse gasses caused by a person, event, organization, product, or activity. We measure carbon footprints in metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents (tCO2e).

Carbon Neutrality: When carbon emissions / greenhouse gasses / pollution have been balanced by an equivalent amount of carbon savings. Achieving carbon neutrality is a way to take responsibility for your impact by supporting positive environmental work.

REDUCE

IT AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.

We then work with our partners to reduce their carbon footprint as much as possible. This is a case by case roadmap, but some tips for the swim industry are as follows:

• Use pool covers when the pool is not in use to retain heat and prevent evaporation.

BY ANNA SAMPSON EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR WE ARE NEUTRAL

• Look into more energy efficient pool pumps, keep the pumps clean, and reduce filtration time if possible.

• Lower your pool’s temperature if possible.

• Invest in electric or solar pool heaters if possible.

• Maintain the pool’s filter/cleaning system.

• Upgrade to energy efficient lighting such as LED bulbs or outdoor solar lights.

You can find some ways to reduce your personal carbon footprint on the next page.

SHARE WHAT YOU’VE LEARNED WITH YOUR PEERS.

The USSSA is an incredible family of like minded businesses. As more and more swim schools take responsibility for their carbon footprint, more information can be shared amongst peers thus lightening the load to carbon neutrality for everyone.

Offset The Rest

There’s no way to be carbon neutral without the use of “carbon offsets”. A carbon offset is a credit that is created to “offset” your environmental impact. Think: You have your lights on, so trees are planted to balance out or “offset” the pollution generated by those lights be- ing on. The goal is to lower your carbon footprint as much as possible, and bridge the gap between a small carbon footprint and carbon neutrality with the use of high quality carbon and/or plastic offsets. Not all carbon offsets are created equally. And the same can be said about carbon offset providers. When looking to work with a group to help with your carbon neutrality goals, make sure they:

1) Don’t see offsetting as a one-time transaction and provide year-round environmental consulting services to their offsetting partners.

2) Work with you to calculate your comprehensive carbon footprint so you know it’s accurate. Online calculators have their place, but often have limited fields, and are trusting the user to identify their top contributing factors.

3) Showcase your brand as an environmental leader. They should do everything they possibly can to make being carbon neutral a smart business move.

4) Have carbon offsets and reductions that are legit. It should be easy to prove the carbon offsets are verified, additional, and permanent, as local to the offsetter as possible, participatory, and visible. Ultimately, make sure the carbon or plastic offsets are actually helping people and the planet.

5) Support carbon reduction projects, whether or not those projects are ever turned into actual carbon offset credits. This includes smaller scale localized efforts, like restoring ecological habitats or composting that have a high emphasis on environmental education.

Cash In On The Roi

Turns out doing right by people and the planet helps your bottom line. Making these bold moves in the name of a healthier planet drives positive PR, acquires top talent, and is proven to increase profits.

We know the pressure to help in the fight against climate change can feel heavy. It’s big, it’s us, we know it, but we can fix it, together.

Reach out to keep the conversation going by emailing me at anna@weareneutral.com

Tips and Tricks to Restore Balance to Our Planet Want to Reduce Your Impact?

For Yourself:

• Be kind to yourself and others.

• You’re not alone. We work together and heal together.

• Get inspired.

• Watch documentaries and educate yourself.

• Follow environmental groups on social media.

• Get passionate and form opinions.

For Your Community:

• Talk to your community about climate change.

• Don’t let your friends buy plastic water bottles.

• Suggest environmental initiatives in the workplace.

• Donate to organizations doing the work.

When Voting:

• Your voice matters. Use your vote to support climate action.

• Sign petitions.

• Vote with your dollars and do your research on corporate practices.

When Shopping:

• Support local businesses.

• Avoid single use plastics.

• Buy less, buy used, buy locally, and responsibly, in that order.

• Boycott big brands.

• Avoid flying when possible.

• Avoid stops or layovers.

• Use public transportation.

• Walk when possible.

When Traveling: When Driving:

• Carpool.

• Perform routine car maintenance.

• Take the most direct route.

• Avoid stops (starting the car uses the most fuel).

• Turn off the lights.

• Turn off the heat/AC.

• Unplug devices.

• Compost.

When Eating:

• Support local businesses.

• Eat less (or no) meat.

CO 2 -

• Choose seasonal fruits and vegetables.

• Compost food scraps.

• Help restore balance to the planet by offsetting your own carbon footprint. (We can help with that!) www.weareneutral.com