Carbon Busters’ Sustainable Shopping Policy
Carbon Busters’ sustainable shopping policy directs company employees to purchase environmentally superior products even if up to 20% more expensive.
All office copier and printer paper is recycled, usually with a 100% post-consumer content. This policy results in energy savings upstream as items such as recycled paper require 60-70% less energy to produce than paper from virgin pulp. The sustainable shopping policy also directs employees to shop locally, at the nearest retailers to the office, or to buy locally produced items where possible. This reduces greenhouse gas emissions produced in the transportation of goods and services. The policy also encourages employees to minimize waste by purchasing products with a minimum of packaging and always carrying reusable shopping bags. This reduces GHG emissions by reducing the need for the production of packaging and plastic shopping bags. Carbon Busters staff are required to favour purchasing food products from low-input (“organic”) farming, which reduces GHG emissions through increased carbon sinks from organic matter build-up in soil and reducing reliance on fossil fuels. Carbon Busters believes that by demanding environmentally superior products, it encourages suppliers to invest in these products.
Carbon Busters encourages staff to take their garments for dry cleaning to a local business that uses liquified carbon dioxide instead of toxic conventional chemicals. This process uses a mild soap in conjunction with liquified carbon dioxide, it does not require solvents and therefore does not produce toxic residue. About 98% of the carbon dioxide can be reused after a cleaning cycle.
