BSkyB goes carbon neutral!
British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) has gone all carbon neutral. They spent some time measuring how many emissions they were generating, they reduced where they could, got some renewable programs in place, and they're offsetting the rest with carbon credits from The CarbonNeutral Company.
Sky has lowered its site-related operational emissions by 47% in the past 18 months and is using 100% renewable energy at its sites in England and Wales alongside combined heat and power in Scotland. In addition, Sky has negotiated discounts for staff wanting to buy a low emission hybrid car as well as making a £1,000 net payment towards the purchase; it is installing automatic lighting sensors in its buildings and is setting emissions targets for future vehicle purchases including its fleet of 1,500 vans. But this isn't just internal - they want to help you do the same.
Sky is establishing new (as yet indefinite) programming to help consumers pick green products and overall reduce their waste. They've even re-engineered their set-top boxes to consumer less electricity. Which is actually a pretty big deal considering "0.5% of energy use in relevant homes and approximately 1.5% of home electricity use." Yikes! Sky is the only broadcast media company to sign up to the European Code of Conduct on Energy Efficient Digital TV Services and will continue to work towards its success. Let's hope BSkyB's created a bandwagon everyone'll get on. [GT]
