Following our last newsletter and review of the Climate Change Commission’s report, this newsletter we’re staying on topic and discussing our carbon footprint. Black Pine has adapted to address our footprint - by measuring our carbon emissions.
This is a venture we started pursuing in 2020, and is a shift that we would like to share.
|
|
Measuring your carbon output sounds daunting at first, but once you bypass the grunt work, it only takes a jiff to calculate each month. We use Catalyst NZ’s ACE carbon calculator tool, a free-to-use spreadsheet.
A theme in the office is following the lunar cycle and aligning dates with the full moon. We post newsletters alongside the full moon, and in this case we measure the office’s carbon with the full moon as well.
This graph shows Black Pine’s carbon usage so far, starting in August of 2020 - when we adopted this system.
|
|
|
The office is equipped with its own meter, giving us an accurate reading of our monthly electricity usage - which just so happens to be higher in the winter months.
We produce very little office waste, most of which is recyclable. It consists mainly of coffee cups and any paper goes through the shredder to be fed to the worms (see the next section in the Newsletter for more on this).
Only a few months of petrol usage were measured, as we substituted the petrol vehicle in November with an electrical Nissan Leaf (affectionately the Black Pine Leaf), which we use exclusively for office-related travels.
This graph below clearly illustrates what a difference omitting fuel can make!
|
|
This tool was designed with the theory that "you cannot manage what you cannot measure".
It is a fairly simple system to adopt, and we implore anyone to give it a go. Once you get the hang of it, you get a very visual representation of where you're at. With this foundation you can build it up and find methods to reduce your carbon - be it switching out your light bulbs or adjusting your transport.
For more info on this tool, see here.
|
|
To hold ourselves accountable and inspire you, we are including the last month’s carbon reading with every newsletter!
The month of March is 0.023 tCO2e
|
|
|
Natural Wastewater Treatment
|
|
|
Worm-based septic tanks use the power of nature to provide a passive, low-energy and reliable method of waste water treatment.
These tanks comprise an engineered ecosystem that mimics the way nature breaks down and decomposes organic matter to a suitable level for irrigation purposes. These ecosystems simulate the forest floor, where worms are provided with a habitat to perform the same tasks they have in nature for thousands of years.
|
|
|
|
|
The Living Building Challenge format takes the form of a flower with seven Petals organising a project into performance areas. In our newsletters, the various topics of discussion are identified with the relevant Petal, helping to place it in context.
|
|
|
From Tara, Duncan, Akshaya and Emma
|
|
|
|
|
