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Check Your Footprint

ARE you switched on when it comes to knowing your electrical usage? Do you know the size of your carbon footprint? Well, don’t let the green issue leave you in the red. Recently introduced new legislation on carbon emissions is sure to affect thousands of businesses as they face higher costs. So don’t get caught out.

Companies, partnerships or sole traders using more than the allowed limit of electricity per year, said to be 6,000MWh, will have to fork out for an allowance to equal that of their carbon output, from April 2011.

The Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme – a title that leaves a size 11 footprint on the English language – has been set up. And businesses must register by the end of September or risk a hefty fine which accumulates daily in the event of failure to register.

Britain’s commitment to reducing carbon emissions by more than 75 per cent by the year 2050 is behind the scheme. The new rules apply to medium/large organisations, with other countries said to be operating similar guidelines. And small businesses too are being urged to become more energy-efficient. With customers demanding ‘greener’ standards and operating costs an issue it is seen as key to the future for most businesses.

So, if you haven’t signed up yet, make sure you do. And like a David Attenborough film crew following a rare sighting of mountain leopard, keep an eye on those footprints.

9 Responses to Check Your Footprint

  1. This type of article is very useful as it is something that could easily slip through the net without realising that something has to be done. I think it's a useful idea if businesses are going to cut their usage of electricity and power but it has to be a worldwide thing otherwsie the problem will remain.

  2. This is a nice article, well written and I suppose a good warning for those who have to think about this aspect of their business. We should all be thinking of the carbon footprint we are leaving, not just businesses.

  3. I think we should all look to reduce our Carbon Footprint. I heard Alistair McGowan on Five-Live this morning talking to Nicky Campbell. He has a real beef with businesses about just how much wastage that goes on in the workplace. Such as not turning off lights. Not turning off radiators. Not recycling paper after maybe writing one word on a bit of paper before throwing it away. There is something to be said from it and we can all learn to save energy and therefore, the planet.

  4. I enjoy recycling, always have. It's the little things we can do that make the difference. I am the same at work and do feel I have a responsibility to make it happen. If we all had the attitude that someone else would shut off lights etc for us then we would be a wasteful people. And that's in the main what we are.

  5. It wil be interesting to see whether the leaders comment on the green debate on TV tomorrow night. I suspect they won't. They are also not touching on the subject of how this country will repay the debts we have built up. And funding Greece too…how can we afford to do that?

  6. We should all be thinking about just what it is we are wasting. I like to think i recycle a lot of stuff although there are areas, I'm sure, that I could do more with. One of things I waste a lot of is food and it's great that it is being recycled now as I'm sure it will make a difference. The environment is somthiong we should look after now, for the benefit of our children and grandchildren. It's so important.

  7. I didn't see the leaders in the end as I was away but have got it on tape to watch. I am sure that the green issue is one of the most pertinent as there are plenty of people who feel strongly about it.

  8. Further to my comment a while ago there are a couple of people I have shown this article to because they just weren't aware that something had to be done in that way. We all have to cut down emissions and didn't realise it was law, so it was a welcome piece of advice for a couple of friends who had no idea.

  9. I saw a man dumping paper in a skip today under Household Waste. That should be recycled. There wasn't anyone there to say, 'why are you recycling that?' There are so many things we could be doing to improve the planet and one of them is not being policed properly. They should have more stringent laws.

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