I recently heard about a lawn care company in the U.S. called Clean Air Lawn Care which is eliminating its carbon footprint by measuring, reducing, and offsetting its emissions.

The company has partnered with an independent electricity supplier that offers customized climate solutions to commercial and industrial companies, called Juice Energy. Juice is supplying Clean Air Lawn Care with emissions inventory guidance, as well as the renewable energy credits and emissions offsets used to reduce the impact of the green lawn care company’s operations.

Clean Air Lawn Care’s commitment to minimizing environmental impact extends throughout the company. From clean electric mowers, edgers and blowers to bio- diesel powered trucks and mobile solar panels used to charge equipment in the field. While Clean Air Lawn Care is much cleaner than the average lawn maintenance service, it wanted to go the extra mile by conducting an assessment of the emissions it does create and offsetting them to eliminate any remaining contribution to global warming. “Clean Air Lawn Care was founded on the premise of reducing the emissions associated with lawn care to zero. This extends beyond simply using clean equipment like some of our competitors; in order to really make a difference, we must take it one step further by offsetting the emissions associated with our electricity consumption and vehicle miles. This is precisely what Juice Energy is enabling us to do,” says Clean Air CEO, Kelly Giard. This type of comprehensive approach to greenhouse gas management is critical to effectively addressing climate change. According to Timothy Treadwell, Environmental Director at Juice Energy, “Clean Air is setting the example in greenhouse gas management by first reducing emissions through self generation and the use of low carbon fuels, and only then looking to external offsetting opportunities to compensate for the remainder.” The majority of Clean Air’s footprint results from the electricity used in lawn care equipment. To address this source of emissions Clean Air Lawn Care is purchasing green power in the form of Green-e certified renewable energy credits (or RECs). RECs represent a megawatt hour of renewable generation delivered into the grid and their purchase supports the development of renewable generation. The remainder of emissions results from CALC’s direct fuel use in vehicles, which is offset through the purchase of verified emission reductions.

Has your business done anything to reduce your carbon footprint and address climate change? If so, we would like to hear about it. Email us at jwong@baumpub.com and tell us your story.