There is no debate; global warming is a real and present concern. According to a recent New York Times article:
Global warming is happening, and its effects are being felt around the world. The only real debates are over how fast and how far the climate will change.
The changes over just the last few decades are stark, making plain that the planet’s climate is warming and that it’s human activity behind the temperature rise.
In order to mitigate climate change, some businesses focus on employing carbon offsets, which can help counteract the effects of their own emissions on the health of the planet. The term “carbon offsets” can often confuse people. Let’s dive into what exactly this term means and how the process works.
What are carbon offsets, exactly? One way to achieve carbon neutrality is by offsetting emissions. The CO2 a company releases is calculated as a cost to the environment. That cost can then be offset by investing in environmental projects that reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere by the same amount that’s released.
Every business emits CO2 to some extent, but carbon emissions are not exactly neutral. In addition to thinking about how to offset emissions, it’s important to focus on new and innovative ways to reduce carbon emissions altogether.
That’s why Rolland has always aimed to focus on reducing emissions from the outset of production and through creation of the final product. Creating a long-term sustainability strategy is key to reducing a company’s carbon footprint.
From carbon footprint to change
The term carbon footprint is simple: it’s essentially the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions that a person, organization or product has produced. Greenhouse gases cause the “greenhouse effect,” a worldwide warming effect which contributes to climate change.
The language around reducing a carbon footprint can be confusing with climate positive, neutral and negative all meaning similar things.
The interchangeability of these terms makes them hard to understand, but what is critical is that reducing a carbon footprint is important and reducing the overall effect on climate change is even more significant.
The importance of finding the right partner
These days, a business is only as environmentally friendly as their business partners. Finding the right partners can go a long way in the fight against climate change.
Rolland is one such partner; they look beyond recycling to analyze the impact of everything they do. In fact, a Life Cycle Assessment demonstrates that Rolland Enviro® paper has the smallest environmental footprint when compared to the average papers in North America.
The energy sources used in manufacturing Rolland papers, biogas, and hydroelectricity help to greatly reduce emissions, and thus lessen the industry’s strain on the environment, reducing the impact on climate change.
Sustainability for Rolland means working towards a circular economy. But recycling is only part of the picture. Environmental stewardship, thriving workplaces and communities, and circular value chain fiber recovery are key to their eco-friendly approach. This means using only what they need as efficiently as possible, supporting the people and communities where they work and supporting responsible business practices in global fiber recovery and sourcing.
The bottom line: when businesses connect with trusted partners in the fight against climate change, they can affect positive change for the planet together.
