Our Carbon Footprint: “Walking the Walk”

At LittleFootprint Lighting, as our name implies, we’re designing LED task lighting
products that help us tread lightly on the planet.

We measure our carbon footprint, with the help of CleanMetrics, and we plan to begin purchasing carbon offsets by late 2011 to ensure that our manufacturing and sales activities are carbon-neutral.

Measuring Our Carbon Footprint

CleanMetrics defines a carbon footprint this way:

“The carbon footprint of a product or service is the total amount of carbon dioxide
(CO2) and other greenhouse gases emitted over the life cycle of that product or service,
expressed as kilograms of CO2 equivalents. The carbon footprint figure captures the mix of
energy sources used in producing and delivering a product/service as well as non-energy related
greenhouse gas emissions (such as methane and nitrous oxide) from production, use, and disposal of the product. Over time, the carbon footprint also captures energy efficiencies achieved in the product life cycle as well as any transition to renewable energy sources and materials/processes with lighter footprints.”

Minimizing Our Carbon Footprint

And we’re not just offsetting our carbon emissions, we’re making a concerted effort to minimize our carbon footprint in the first place. For example:

Business processes

  • Telecommuting: We work as a virtual team; no one drives to an office, and no additional energy is used to power a separate office.

Manufacturing

  • We use recycled plastic and other materials in our lamps.
  • We source most of our raw materials and components locally (in California).
  • We manufacture locally (in California).

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