Carbon Neutral Initiative & Carbon Concierge
The Carbon Concierge was inspired by the Social Venture Network Carbon Neutral Initiative (SVN-CNI), a member led effort initiated in April 2006. SVN members Richard Perl and Murat Armbruster conceived of the Carbon Concierge to advance carbon neutrality among the individual members of the SVN community and the businesses and organizations they represent. While the initial goal of the SVN-CNI and the Carbon Concierge was to help SVN members become knowledgeable about carbon and climate change issues, and to assist members in measuring, reducing and offsetting their carbon emissions, other organizations have already expressed interest in Carbon Concierge services, and the objectives have been expanded to enable the Carbon Concierge to serve a wider audience.
The SVN-CNI turned to Bainbridge Graduate Institute, a socially responsible business school, which is also an SVN member, to request the assistance of a team of MBA students to develop what has become the Carbon Concierge. Nine MBA students volunteered to assist SVN in developing the Carbon Concierge, creating a "kiosk" format which includes a booth, multimedia and written materials on carbon footprint and how to measure and mitigate it, online tutorials, success stories by others who are leading the way, and a team of Climate Concierges who will provide personal service and answer questions that visitors may have about the process of calculating, reducing, and offsetting their impact on global climate. The "carbon concierge service" is aimed at motivating participants at prominent conferences to take immediate, tangible steps to reduce and offset their personal and corporate carbon footprint. The Carbon Concierge is available to assist businesses and organizations after initial appointments at conferences, as they explore within their organizations steps to measure, reduce and offset their carbon.
The Carbon Concierge will launch at the Social Venture Network April 2007 conference of socially responsible business leaders. Already, other organizations are requesting that the Carbon Concierge attend their meetings, suggesting the likelihood that the Carbon Concierge will serve numerous constituencies seeking to evaluate and address their carbon emissions. The Carbon Concierge is a joint project of Social Venture Network and Bainbridge Graduate Institute. Its fiscal sponsor is Bainbridge Graduate Institute.
Our approach:
The Climate Concierge offers guidance on how to measure, reduce and offset individual, business and organizational carbon emissions.
The philosophy we find most effective in improving carbon impact involves:
- Calculate – We refer you to simple tools which help you to understand the carbon emissions impact of your personal lifestyle and business/organizational operations.
- Reduce – Once you have measured your carbon emissions, the next step is to reduce your emissions. For individuals and businesses, there is some low hanging fruit, easy steps and changes in practices or facilities which pay often produce energy and fuel savings. Any individual action may seem small, but a series of small steps, when implemented collectively, adds up to a big impact on global emissions.
- Offset – Currently, it is difficult for most individuals, businesses and organizations to operate on a carbon neutral basis. Offsetting carbon emissions that you cannot reduce, by purchasing a Carbon Offset, is the right next step. The purchase of a carbon offset does more than mitigate your impact: Participation in the carbon offset regime helps to finance the development of clean energy and other carbon capturing technologies throughout the world. It helps fuel new technologies which will make it easier, in time, to live and operate on a carbon neutral basis.
We hope that the Carbon Concierge is able to assist you in evaluating and addressing your carbon emissions.
You can contact the Carbon Concierge program at info@carbonconcierge.com.
Learn more at www.carbonconcierge.com.
