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12 12 P a r t I : a r t I : T r e n d s a n d R e a s o n s t o G o G r e e nr e n d s a n d R e a s o n s t o G o G r e e n

FIGURE 1-3 New stores
Tracking Carbon added Energy-efficient
efforts started
Dioxide annually. Baseline year Renewable
energy used
230000
Tons of Carbon Dioxide Generated 215000
225000
220000
210000
205000
200000
195000
190000
185000
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

Year 2006 2007 2008
Tracking Carbon Dioxide Annually

Details
It’s a daunting task, but it’s one you can do. You just need to have a roadmap. First, start
with the basics. Take a look at your organization and how people get to and from work each
day. Consider the energy used to get your employees to work. There are a number of online
calculators you can use to help with the task. They can help you calculate the amount of
greenhouse gases generated by your commuting employees. You can also calculate the
amount of greenhouse gases you create because of the electricity your datacenter consumes.

NOTE Lots of calculators are available online, but be aware that many of them are trying to sell you
climate offsets, allowing you to purchase renewable-energy credits.
The next step is to examine your operations. That is, take a look at what you buy, sell,
and produce. To figure out your organization’s operational impact, you need to get help
from an outside consultant or other expert. This is because every organization is absolutely
unique. The greenhouse gas emissions from a brewery are going to be drastically different
from a company that edits television commercials.
To get the most accurate accounting of your greenhouse gas emissions, you must follow
the GHG Protocol Initiative (for more information click Link 1-1 at www.greenitinfo.com/
links). It is a globally recognized reporting standard for greenhouse gas emissions.

NOTE Throughout the book we have included web links to additional information. In many cases,
the links we wanted to use in the book were quite long and somewhat cryptic—making them a
chore to actually type into your browser. To make it easier to access those URLs and the
information they contain, we have created a companion website for the book that has additional
information and direct links to those URLs. So any time you see a “Link” reference in the book,
you can go to www.greenitinfo.com/links and click the link number specified in the text to access
the additional information.