BKM Sustainability | Net Zero NOW

We're Committing to ZERO Net Carbon Footprint This Year! Here's How.

Global warming is real. And you don’t need to be a scientist to know it’s already here. Earth’s average global surface temperature has risen annually since the 1940s. Nineteen of the 20 warmest years on record all have occurred since 2001.

Between CoVid suffering and George Floyd’s tragic final words, “breathing” was in the news nearly every day. But below all the headlines, nature was breathing a sigh of relief.

Fish returned to swimming in the Venice canals
Smog disappeared over the globe’s most populous cities
Greenhouse gas emissions temporarily declined
Water quality started improving
Earth began to see signs of ecological restoration

It’s no secret that BKM Marketing generates millions of direct mail pieces for our clients every year--usually supported by electricity-dependent digital marketing. As our clients’ business grows, our mail and digital marketing programs increase with it...

It got us thinking. Our sick environment CAN get better...

WHERE DO WE BEGIN...?

We posted an academic project on Riipen, and received inquiries from as far away as the University of Melbourne in Australia. We selected to partner locally with an MBA class at Suffolk University’s Sawyer School of Business called Building a Greener & More Innovative Business class. Under the optimistic guidance of Professor Bari Bendell, we met with the students and outlined our goals:

Calculate the carbon impact BKM Marketing creates on behalf of serving our clients
Identify specific certifications or benchmarks that would be helpful as we embark on ways of reducing / offsetting our carbon impact
Recommend steps we can take to mitigate environmental impact of direct mail and digital marketing
Document BKM Marketing’s carbon neutral solution as a blueprint for other agencies to follow

	CO2 Impact (Metric Tons)
	2021 - 1Q	2021 - 2Q	2021 - 3Q	2021 - 4Q	YTD 2021
BKM Marketing Direct Impact(1)
Office Utilities	4.5	5.0	-	-	9.5
Fleet	0.8	1.0			1.8
Air Travel	2.0	-			2.0
Employee Commutes	1.8	2.0			3.8
Servers	2.0	2.0			4.0
Total	11.0	10.0	-	-	21.0

BKM Client Program Impact
Direct Marketing (2)	2,114	320			2,433.5
Digital Marketing (3)	47	47			94.2
Total	2,161	367	-	-	2,527.8

Total Metric Tons of CO2 Impact	2,172	377	-	-	2,549

Total Offsets Purchased
Office via terrapass (1)	12 mT	12 mT	12	12	24 mT
Trees planted to offset client programs (4)	12,966	2,201			15,167
Flight offsets via terrapass (1)	2 mT	0 mT			2 mT
BKM Net Carbon Impact*	Zero	Zero	Zero	Zero	Zero

*It’s only possible to calculate our carbon impact by making informed assumptions.

net zero now!

We're Committing to ZERO Net Carbon Footprint This Year! Here's How.

Global warming is real. And you don’t need to be a scientist to know it’s already here. Earth’s average global surface temperature has risen annually since the 1940s. Nineteen of the 20 warmest years on record all have occurred since 2001.

It got us thinking. Our sick environment CAN get better...

TO STOP CLIMATE CHANGE, WE MUST CHANGE.

We are a small business. And like everyone else, we’re part of the problem.

We have a responsibility to ourselves and future generations to offset the negative environmental impact we’re causing.

WHERE DO WE BEGIN...?

WHAT DID WE LEARN?

BKM Marketing + Our Client Programs add at least 2,000 metric tons of carbon

to the atmosphere every year - the equivalent of...

400

Car Annual Emissions

12,000

Trees in a Forest

122,639

BBQ Propane Cylinders

243,000,000

Cell Phones Charged

BKM'S CARBON FOOTPRINT

With the students’ help, we learned how to calculate our carbon footprint.

We consider factors relative to our own business and factors related to the services we provide to our clients.

2021 CARBON NEUTRALITY

TODAY'S REALITY + THE NET ZERO NOW PLEDGE

There’s no possible way any business or household can operate without emitting greenhouse gases.

But here’s what we can do:

1. Find ways to reduce our carbon emissions over time

2. Use carbon offsets to mitigate the impact of our emissions today

BKM NET ZERO NOW PLEDGE.

1. Work with our clients to develop effective marketing programs that reduce carbon emissions

2. Offset our direct CO2 emissions by purchasing Carbon Offsets

3. Offset the carbon impact of our client’s marketing programs by replacing enough trees to

counteract both print and digital marketing we manage - at our own expense.

THANK YOU.

We are grateful to the following organizations whose work helped us with these calculations:

USEFUL LINKS

BANK MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS