North coast businesses look to go green

A move by two North Coast businesses to become more environmetnally friendly, will have them join eleven other businesses in BC to look at ways to reduce their carbon footprint and take advantage of growing opportunities to go green.

The Daily news featured the efforts of Triumph Timber and King Pacific Lodge in the Wednesday paper.

Companies to get help in bid to turn greener
By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Two very different North Coast businesses are participating in a groundbreaking pilot project aimed at the same goal - shrinking their carbon footprint.

The coastal logging company Triumph Timber and fishing lodge operator King Pacific Lodge are participating in the Eco-Trust Canada pilot project that will help businesses meet consumer demand for climate-friendly products and services.

The two businesses will participate in the Carbon Neutral Workgroup for Small Business to learn the scale of their emissions and ways to reduce them.

"Companies participating in the Carbon Neutral Workgroup will identify cost-effective ways to reduce their carbon emissions. By helping to save the planet, they will be saving themselves money too," said Ian Gill, president of Ecotrust Canada. "It's part of a growing conservation economy' driven by the dramatic change in consumer and corporate attitudes toward the environment as a result of global warming."

Thirteen businesses are participating in the working group.

They represent some of B.C.'s most progressive and innovative small businesses in the fields of tourism, eco-forestry, fisheries, manufacturing, transportation and green building. The David Suzuki Foundation, Vancity, Mountain Equipment Co-op and King Pacific Lodge are funding the pilot program.

"At King Pacific Lodge we have made a commitment to reduce our carbon footprint by 50 per cent over the next five years and to invest in a project that helps other small businesses do the same," said Michael Uehara, president of King Pacific Lodge. "By sponsoring the Carbon Neutral Workgroup, we are raising the bar on ecological responsibility in the hospitality industry and demonstrating how business and the environment can form a profitable relationship."

Three workshops will show companies how to calculate and reduce their carbon footprint, and learn about strategies to market their climate-friendly products and services. The Pembina Institute and David Suzuki Foundation have developed innovative software to help these businesses calculate their carbon footprint. The Pembina Institute will provide one-on-one assistance.

"Small- and medium-sized businesses play a huge role in the economy and are essential in fighting global warming," said Matt McCulloch, co-director of Corporate Consulting Services for The Pembina Institute. "The Carbon Neutral Workgroup will provide small businesses with the knowledge and tools to take action against climate change."

While there is no data on the carbon emissions of small businesses, they are responsible for about 30 per cent of B.C.'s GDP and 58 per cent of all private sector jobs in the province.

"More and more businesses are seeing the benefits of reducing their greenhouse gas emissions," said Deborah Carlson, Climate Change Campaigner for the David Suzuki Foundation. "But there is clearly a need for resources to help them figure out how to do that."

The Carbon Neutral Workgroup will also help firms understand the purchase carbon offsets.
"We need to create a local carbon market whereby companies and consumers can purchase offsets that reinvest money into climate change projects in their local communities," said Gill.