The Refinishing Touch Blog

Labels: 2009, Calculate your Carbon footprint, College, Education, Energy Efficiency, energy efficient buildings, Green, green rating, New York Times, renewable power, The Princeton Review, university

With all this talk about going green and saving our environment, there seems to be confusion around carbon admission, the size of your carbon footprint and how they tie into carbon credits. Many are unaware of what carbon credits are and how they are earned and used.

We are dedicating this post to explain what carbon credits are and how they can benefit all business sectors, including hospitality and educational institutions.

Carbon credits came about from the Kyoto protocol which is an environmental treaty that was produced at a United Nations conference on environment and development. The protocol is an agreement among nations to limit their carbon emissions while stabilizing the green house gasses in the atmosphere. As a result of the protocol, each nation must be able to account for or "absorb" the carbon they are allotted to produce. If they are unable to do so, they must purchase carbon credits (which are the currency of 'absorption ability') from other nations who have been planting trees for such deliberation. This money will eventually go to grants to further carbon saving methods.

Like many others, you may find yourself wondering what the benefits of carbon credits are. Carbon credits were established instead of carbon taxes to help businesses understand more easily how to efficiently manage their environmental activities.

So, how can carbon credits benefit US organizations? Companies can sell credits to commercial and individual customers. Customers interested in buying credits are interested in lowering their carbon footprint and those selling credits have reduced their carbon footprint.

We, at The Refinishing Touch, believe in the benefits of having a smaller carbon footprint, no matter the size of the business, university or hospitality organization. Reducing carbon footprints will eventually reduce the carbon credits that our nation must purchase.

With an expiration date set in 2013, we will continue to talk about this more as the process evolves. Stay tuned for a new post early next week with more on carbon credits.

Labels: Calculate your Carbon footprint, Carbon Credit, Kyoto protocol

This past Sunday, August 25th, the world said goodbye to Beijing as the 2008 Summer Olympic Games came to a close. But it didn't take long before Americans shifted focus to their own home soil.

Just a short 24 hours after the Olympic closing ceremonies, marked the opening of the Democratic National Convention in Denver, CO. Yet as the convention kicked off what promised to be one of the most focused upon Presidential elections our nation has yet to see, the politics seem to have taken a back seat to a greater, "greener" initiative.

The Democratic National Convention Committee made environmental friendliness a primary focus this year. In the planning stages of the event, figures were released estimating a total of one ton of CO2, the greenhouse gas, that was expected to be emitted into the environment for each person expected to attend the Democratic event.

The estimation of greenhouse gas for this event only is astonishing. The DNCC planned an event that would try to avoid and significantly reduce the estimated numbers. In an effort to hammer the idea home throughout the United States, the DNCC committed to carbon offset programs and measuring the overall carbon footprint of the greener event to compare it to past conventions. The hope for planning a greener event was not only to set an example for the nation and the world, but to also have this event create a legacy of sustainability for the Democratic Party.

The world is aware now of the implications that poor energy spending and irresponsible behavior can have on the environment. Among the very long list of green-smart efforts being conducted throughout the world, now stands a blue-print for others to follow. From choosing to use sustainable materials to using alternative energy methods like fluorescent, LED and solar powered lighting and making hybrid transportation available to and from all access points for the event, the DNCC has both raised and set the bar very high for others to follow.

We saw Beijing's extraordinary nod to the very same cause with their green approach to the Olympic Village. The buzz that both the Democratic Party and China received for their green efforts during recent major events has been extremely positive. This is the same kind of positive buzz that the The Refinishing Touch has been running off of over the past few decades and we're proud to see the "green-reach" extending further and further.

The common goal is here and it starts with you. Have you checked out your carbon footprint? We are proud to display our Carbon statistics, and as innovators in this movement, encourage everyone to educate themselves on their own Carbon stance. Check out Live Earth for a dose of environmental reality and calculate your carbon footprint. You will be surprised at either what a good job you are doing or how far you need to come to make some changes.

Labels: Calculate your Carbon footprint, Democratic National Convention, Green, Live Earth, Sustainability