Carbon Footprint

Understanding the carbon footprint of any business is a first step to reducing environmental impacts to increase sustainability in a finite world.

To be a sustainable business at the end of the second decade of the 21st Century requires meaningful focus on the triple bottom lines of economic, social and environmental sustainability,

Whereas environmental sustainability must include a consideration of many factors including waste minimisation, resource management and pollution avoidance, in the age of climate change, understanding your carbon footprint is an important piece of the puzzle.

​Since the establishment of Synovus Technology in July 2014 the only significant source of carbon emissions produced has been from domestic and international travel. Over the past five years this has included vehicle travel as follows:

• 30,380 km domestic travel by diesel vehicle
• 7,490 km domestic travel by petrol vehicle
• 5,150 km international travel by diesel rental car
• 820 km domestic travel by petrol rental car

A 10% loading has been applied to domestic vehicle travel to make allowance for sundry vehicle travel that has not been specifically recorded. Using the carbon calculators on the Toitu Envirocare website shows this travel has resulted in 10,545 kg of CO2 equivalent emissions.

Additionally, domestic air travel over the past five years has included:

• three return flights between Auckland and New Plymouth
• two return flights between Auckland and Great Barrier Island
• return flights between Auckland and Napier, Wellington and Dunedin

The calculator shows this domestic air travel resulted in 1,295 kg of CO2 equivalent emissions.

​International air travel over the past five years has included:

• two return flights between New Zealand and Great Britain
• a UK domestic return flight between London and Edinburgh
• a return flight between New Zealand and Lord Howe Island via Sydney

In addition to the domestic air travel the calculator shows this international air travel resulted in 17,155 kg of CO2 equivalent emissions. To complete the travel related emissions, a single return rail journey between London and Salisbury resulted in just 5 kg of CO2 equivalent emissions.

In total these travel related emissions total 29,000​ kg of CO2 equivalent emissions made up of:

• 59% international air travel
• 36% vehicle travel
• 5% domestic air travel
• 0% rail travel

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Over the course of the 60 months under consideration, monthly CO2 equivalent emissions have ranged from a minimum of 0 kg to a maximum of 8,060 kg (28% of total) per month.

Now that we have some insight into our carbon emissions we can seek to minimise them by avoiding unnecessary travel, we can update them on an annual basis and most importantly we can now investigate the most environmentally sustainable way that we can offset both these accumulated carbon emissions and future emissions that will inevitably occur.