Addressing climate change head-on by going carbon negative.
We have always been committed to creating meaningful change in our community and beyond. One of the greatest challenges we all face today is climate change, and it is clear that meaningful change has to happen now to make an impact on the future of our planet.
At the beginning of 2021, John Chuang, our CEO, made the bold commitment for our company to become carbon-negative by the end of the year—the first major firm in our industry to do so. After that goal is reached, we will work to erase Aquent’s entire carbon footprint of 35 years. This lofty goal requires firm, definitive changes to how we work as an organization, today and in the future.
Where we are today.
Since we do not manufacture any goods, our carbon footprint is largely driven by office utilities, employee commuting, business travel, and technology systems.
Taking these factors into account and using the EPA guidelines for calculating carbon generation, we have calculated our company’s global carbon footprint (including internal staff and talent) for 2019, 2020, and 2021 (projected):
- 2019
- Benchmark
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We generated almost 9,000 tons of carbon. A substantial portion of this number is due to our staff and talent commuting to offices.
- 2020
- 88% Carbon Reduction
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A pivotal year, with COVID forcing us to move all our staff and talent to work remotely, we generated just over 1,100 tons of carbon.
Since 2019
- 2021
- 96% Carbon Reduction
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We estimate our carbon footprint this year will be approximately 360 tons as we let go of physical offices and became a virtual-first workplace.
Since 2019
COVID created many changes. In this case, they were positive changes. Moving our staff and talent to work remotely, we saw the impact that can have on our carbon footprint as well as our clients'. This sparked the drive to make even more lasting changes to how we work.
Real change starts with real action.
Just talking the talk has never been our thing. In order to reach our goal to become carbon-negative by the end of 2021 and begin erasing our 35-year carbon footprint, we have taken decisive actions and started key projects to make that happen:
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Building solar arrays
While we considered buying carbon credits, we decided that creating a renewable energy source was more in line with our values. At the start of 2021, we began working with several partners to build two solar arrays in Indiana and Ohio. These arrays will offset two times the amount of CO2 that our staff and talent generate annually worldwide.
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Moving data storage
Our proprietary recruiting software has been hosted at a data center in Virginia, a state on the higher end of carbon generated per kilowatt-hour. We are migrating to a facility in Oregon which is powered by renewable hydroelectric energy. This move will save approximately two tons of carbon emissions annually.
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More efficient equipment
Starting in July of 2021, we will start providing our staff with more efficient Apple M1 computers, which draw significantly fewer kilowatts per hour.