This year Earth Day was on 22nd April, 2022. As we like to remind at TERAO through our daily job and daily actions, Earth Day should be every day, as sustainability and climate change mitigation cannot be met in only one day of action.
What can I do for Earth Day at a personal level?
There are many ways to help the planet get better, here are some of daily tips you can take every day to participate in the protection of our planet.
1. Educate yourself about sustainability
Have you heard about the latest report of the IPCC? Do you know what are UN SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) is? Do you know the relation between the meal you are eating and its carbon emissions? Did you know that 120 min per week in nature makes you feel happier? Do you know why there are more and more floods in your country?
If most of your answers are no, you can first take some time to educate yourself with documentaries, articles, etc. about those different topics. It may or may not open your eyes, but at least you will be more aware of how to protect better the environment in which we all live.
Some examples of documentary to be more aware of our environment
2. Avoid participating in Earth Hour
Switching OFF your electrical equipment for one hour, and then re-switching it ON at the same time with millions of people: is dreadful for the electricity grid management and need to fire up coal and gas stations to mitigate this peak in a short time. Instead, you can prolong the Earth hour to an Earth evening
3. Avoid leaving the phone charger on the plug and other idle equipment consumption
When the phone is charged, you remove the phone from your cable, but the charger on the plug will continue consuming electricity. So does the idle equipment (small LED light on the TV screens etc.). And are you using this electricity? No! It is thus a big waste of resources!
Instead, you can charge your phone fully before sleeping for example, then remove the charger from the plug, and charge again the next day, if needed.
4. ’40-80 rule’ for batteries
Our phone is nowadays one of the most cherished objects of our daily life. But how annoying is it when the battery is not keeping up with your usage pace?
Let us learn something new today: the battery of the phone will last longer if it is operating between 40%-80% of the battery charge, not at 100%, so stop leaving your phone on the plug, let it be free!
More tips here: https://dataoverhaulers.com/smartphone-battery-life/
5. Take a bike to work
As we have shown in our previous article, a bicycle is the least emissive way of transportation for commuting to school/work (if the distance permits it).
What can I do for Earth Day at company level?
1. Assess your carbon footprint
Know where you stand in terms of carbon footprint, and which of your activities will emit most of the emissions, so you can target better your emission reduction. See our case study with ARaymond company:
- ARaymond Case study Interview 1 – Data collection
- ARaymond Case study Interview 2 – Carbon footprint calculation
2. Increase energy efficiency of your asset
Energy-induced emissions are one of the biggest impacts of climate change. Your company’s energy consumption could be reduced, by Energy audits and implementing energy efficiency solutions on the relevant items. See our different case studies below:
3. Green building certifications
Green building certifications are a way to showcase your sustainability engagement. Green buildings will consume less energy and water and have better indoor air quality. Their value is higher than buildings without green building certifications and their operating cost is lower. See the current case study of PRD, and others here below :
- Volvo Polestar – LEED ID+C Gold
- DianaPetFood – LEED V4 BD+C SILVER
- Wuhan Caidian Sino-French Eco-City – HQE Design stage pre-certification
4. Renewable energies: whether it is on your own site, you optimize the durability of buildings and the circulation of transport, pedestrians and bicycles, and also enhance biodiversity.
When a company has reduced all possible energy-related emissions, it could then turn to renewable energy solutions. Many of the projects we have worked on include renewable energy, whether it is produced onsite, or purchased (Renewable Energy credits, or PPA).
Written by Nathalie Ieong and Wu Jiawei
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