Direct and indirect emissions play a crucial role in the sustainability of your supply chain. Environmental practices improve when organizations intentionally try to reduce their carbon footprint and adjust their Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 emissions. For businesses such as manufacturing or distributing, awareness of how your business can use lower emissions as a business advantage will benefit the planet and your bottom line.
Before we move further, we want to provide some critical definitions within emissions terminology. In this article, we’ll often mention the different emissions scopes, so here is an outline of what Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 emissions refer to.
Scope 1 emissions include direct emissions from a source that a company or entity owns or controls. This can include fuel emissions from vehicles used for business purposes or emissions from manufacturing materials.
Scope 2 emissions refer to indirect emissions that result from purchased energy. For most companies, this can come from electricity or heating and cooling. Scope 2 emissions are labeled as indirect emissions because the company purchasing the energy does not directly produce the emissions in its facility; rather, they are produced to support the business or entity’s practices.
Scope 3 emissions are indirect emissions that include everything beyond Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions. Some examples of Scope 3 emissions include employee commutes to and from work, the transportation of sold products, the production of purchased materials, and much more.
All levels of emissions are felt by every company, but the goal for Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) teams and in-house sustainability advocates is to reduce each scope as much as possible to improve ESG scores and minimize environmental damage.
The primary focus in recent years has been to reduce Scope 1 emissions, as companies have the highest control over their choices when creating direct emissions. With organizations cleaning up their practices and improving their Scope 1 emissions, the question becomes: what’s next?
Companies that have successfully offset their own carbon now shift their focus to Scope 2 indirect emissions. A crucial part of this process is ensuring carbon reduction in the vendors you work with. By making environmentally conscious decisions, manufacturers can directly impact Scope 1 emissions and attract customers and clients who value sustainability, leading to imminent business growth.
One of the fastest and most effective ways to reduce your facility’s emissions is to explore an energy-efficient lighting upgrade for your facility. Energy-efficient LED lighting with the added benefit of lighting controls to manage daylight harvesting, task-tuning, occupancy, and more reduces energy purchasing from your utility provider and your Scope 2 indirect emissions.
As more organizations examine their supply chains and prioritize sustainable vendors to improve their Scope 2 emissions, highlighting the energy efficiency and reduced emissions of your organization’s practices after a lighting upgrade can be an attractive selling point for potential clients.
Environmentally conscious businesses that care about the vendors in their supply chain to reduce their carbon footprint will look to other businesses that are taking action. With so much competition in the manufacturing and distribution markets, having sustainability and the ability to provide tangible data showing your facility’s commitment to green practices may be the difference between winning or losing a client.
Are you ready to explore what an LED lighting upgrade can do to reduce your emissions and win your next contract? Contact Relumination for a free lighting consultation to see how much your facility can save by switching to a more energy-efficient option.
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