Sustainability at Easy LMS

Sustainability is a key value of our company. We constantly strive to be greener and work to achieve this by making minor improvements. Our approach to sustainability is focused and consistent. We hope to become a net-zero company in the not-too-distant future by making little changes with a significant impact. Here is an overview of how much CO2 we emit and the steps we are taking to offset the emissions.

How much CO2 do we emit?

While we’re already an eco-conscious company, we wanted to take a moment to assess where we stand on the sustainability spectrum. Since 2021, we yearly asked the Climate Neutral Group (CNG) to calculate our CO2 emissions, and the results were pleasing! We produce an average of approximately nine tonnes of CO2 yearly, less than the average European citizen. Let’s share some facts & figures:

CO₂ emissions from 2020 to 2022

As you can see, our total CO2 emissions over time increased from 8.03t (2020) to 9.91t (2022). However, we have grown as a company, too. Setting our emissions in relation to the total number of full-time employees (FTEs) within our company, we can see a subtle enhancement over the last few years. In numbers: Our CO2 emissions have declined per full-time employee, from 1.00t per FTE in 2020 to 0.75t per FTE in 2022. Thus, we are heading in the right direction!

How do we offset our emissions?

To compensate for our average nine tons of emissions annually, we donate via the CNG to Renewable Energy Projects that meet the Gold Standard (GS) or Verified Carbon Standards (VCS) and contribute to sustainable development goals. CNG’s membership of the International Carbon Reduction & Offsetting Alliance (ICROA) ensures that offsetting through their projects meets the highest quality criteria. We proudly announce that we have received a certificate for offsetting our 2022 emissions.

What we do more

Office improvements

After a carbon footprint consultation with CNG, we jumped into action to make small changes with a significant impact:

💚 We bought a new fridge! It’s eight times more energy efficient than our previous one.
💚 We’ve replaced the lights above our fridges with LED TL lights.
💚 We’re in the process of insulating our windows and doors better.

We’ve bought thermal curtains for the backdoor to keep out the draft!
Our front door was difficult to close. We bought a door closer to ensure the door stays shut and to prevent any energy loss.

💚 We’ve got a new and improved policy for waste separation.
💚 The gas we buy for our heating is forest compensated.
💚 We keep tour heating to a maximum of 19 degrees.
💚 We only heat the rooms we are in.
💚 We have put radiator foil behind and fans on the radiators for better warmth circulation, reducing the amount of gas we need for heating.
💚 We bought a smart energy display that helps to detect a running airco when leaving the office at the end of the day. It helps us to turn off devices we don’t use.

Buying trees

We also focus on reforestation and afforestation, both touted as critical solutions to the climate crisis. Our subscription model reflects this. For each subscription sold, we plant a tree. We buy our trees on farms worldwide in Europe, Guatemala, and Paraguay. Colleagues who achieve their goals or do excellent work also receive their own tree. We’ve bought hundreds so far. In January 2024, the count was at 646 planted trees!

Are there still opportunities to offset more?

From the graphs, it appears that our office heating and home heating have the greatest impact on our emissions.

Firstly, office heating. We purchase climate-neutral gas for our office heating. We don't set the temperature higher than 19 degrees, use radiator foil and fans for better warmth circulation, and try to minimize the use of heating altogether. Unfortunately, we can't go much further than that. This is because we're located in a historic rented building in the city center of Delft. We can't just replace the heating system with a heat pump at the drop of a hat, much like installing solar panels is difficult. Moving to a modern office building would solve all these problems, but that's not without its challenges :sweat_smile: .

Secondly, home heating. We support hybrid working and voluntarily take the scope 3 emissions from working from home into our emission calculation. We encourage our staff to opt for a green energy contract. However, this is a private decision that we can't enforce. Sometimes, our employees want to switch, but they're limited because they're bound by their landlord's contracts (rental properties). This won’t hold us back; we will continue looking for opportunities to lower our footprint.

Follow our journey

We love keeping you in the loop about our sustainability news. Check out these articles and get to know our company values better: