To mark Earth Day 2022, The Association of British Dispensing Opticians (ABDO) has announced its success in attaining carbon neutraility.
ABDO staff worked together to provide information on the Association’s activities for 2021, which were then analysed to calculate emissions of greenhouse gases. In accordance with PAS 20603 this included:
- water supply,
- waste generated,
- business travel,
- employees commuting
- and working-from-home emissions.
The Association’s emissions have been offset using a blend of offsets from a Gold Standard wind project and a Verra CCB4 forestry project to mix biodiversity protection and restoration with fuel switching to renewable energy.
ABDO President Jo Holmes said: “Carbon footprinting ABDO’s work is a significant achievement and I want to thank the staff who have worked on this on top of their existing workloads. It is exciting to know that the offsets mean that ABDO’s activities are now carbon neutral.”
Jo Holmes, ABDO President
ABDO has also developed an environmental sustainability policy for the organisation, which adds to the template sustainability policy available for all practitioners to use on ABDO’s SEE Hub.
Antonia Chitty, ABDO’s Head of Communications and IT lead for the carbon footprinting project, said: “Carbon footprinting has been a big task, complicated by the fact that we are coming out of two years of atypical activity, and it is just the start. We are now asking each ABDO department to appoint a Sustainability Champion. Our NRC team has made a great start with this, and they are working through issues including recycling and waste, food, and transport, to ensure people using the venue can hold sustainable events from start to finish. Watch out for more from ABDO as we keep the optical community updated with the changes we are making, while we continue to deliver support for our members in a more sustainable way.”
The next steps for the Association are to assess upcoming activities and develop a strategy to reduce emissions further while still allowing the organisation to continue its work towards its purpose, to support and represent its members, to promote awareness of their roles, to enable their professional development and to advance the profession.
You can hear more about how to make your practice sustainable from ABDO Head of Professional Services and International Development Elaine Grisdale at 100% Optical, where she will be speaking on Steps to sustainability, 24 Apr 2022, 13:15 - 14:15 in the Optical Academy.
