Best Foot Forward

US wine producer Fetzer has announced the results of a study undertaken by BFF into the carbon savings associated with the lightweighting of their bottles. The new design eliminates the punt — the concave indentation on the bottom of bottles — and reduces the thickness of the glass.

The September issue of The ENDS Report features a full review of BFF's work with the Centre for Remanufacturing and Reuse on the eco-efficiency of remanufacturing printer cartridges. Our study concluded that a remanufactured cartridge has a 46% lower carbon footprint than a new one, saving approximately 2.8kg of CO₂ per cartridge. 

BFF's footprinting work is well-recognised for its quality and robustness - so we are regularly asked to peer review other studies. One such request recently came from Building Magazine, who have enlisted us as expert reviewers of CSR and carbon emissions reports in the construction sector. Our aim is to use the column to promote transparency, highlight greenwashing and encourage more quantitative assessments of corporate environmental performance.

BFF Principal Consultant Simon Miller was recently interviewed by an analyst from Quocirca to provide his views on the significance of IT in the wider context of carbon footprinting. Simon commented on the tremendous interest in ‘green IT’ but highlighted crucial issues which have not been addressed - including the significance of embodied carbon in IT equipment relative to operational efficiency and nromal equipment refresh rates. Quocirca were also impressed by BFF’s Footprinter and have included commentary on the tool in the final article published in IT Analysis.

A recent article in The Times online business section has featured Best Foot Forward as an example of a company beating the economic downturn in the South East.

There has been considerable interest in the work we completed for Radiohead to assess the carbon and ecological footprints of the band's tours in the US. Although the study was completed in 2007, journalists continue to contact us to discuss the study. You can hear BFF project manager Simon Miller contributing his thoughts on footprints and festivals on The World Tonight  programme on Radio 4. Play audio:

Communications watchdog Ofcom is targeting a large reduction in the impact IT has on its carbon footprint. The steps are being taken after a carbon audit of Ofcom, conducted by Best Foot Forward, said the regulator needed to target cuts in IT. The news was picked up by Computer World.

In the world of environmental accounting there are a few debates that refuse to go away: comparisons between washing reusable nappies instead of disposing of them – or refilling glass bottles instead of  recycling them. Similar questions have been posed over the efficiency of retreading old tyres instead of the manufacture of new ones.