LiveSmart BC Community Feature
ArtiZEN Has Climate Smarts
ArtiZEN, a home renovation company located in Vancouver, became one of many small and medium-sized businesses and organizations to learn how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions when it completed the Climate Smart program in January, 2009.
Yee Jee Tso, a LEED Accredited Professional with ArtiZEN, shares his thoughts on the benefits of the program with LiveSmart BC:
LiveSmart BC: Why did ArtiZEN decide to take part in Climate Smart?
Yee Jee Tso: Reducing our greenhouse gas emissions is an important part of our overall sustainability strategy. However, in order to reduce, we realized it was first necessary to understand, and then quantify. Ecotrust's Climate Smart program is the only program of its kind, and we felt it offered us exactly what we needed: a wealth of information about our emissions including how to inventory, reduce and offset them.
LSBC: Did the program have an impact on how you do business?
YJT: For us, it didn't change the way we do business so much as inform everything that we do. Now we feel like we are managing our carbon emissions, rather than being subjected to them.
LSBC: What was the most important thing you gained from the program?
YJT: We gained a tool with which to inventory our greenhouse gas emissions and the knowledge to use that tool.
LSBC: Do you find that your customers appreciate your efforts to be Climate Smart?
YJT: Absolutely. We would not feel comfortable labelling ourselves as a sustainable or "green" company unless we felt we were taking real steps towards reducing our carbon footprint. Our customers reward our efforts every day with their support.
LSBC: Do you find that your employees appreciate your efforts to be Climate Smart?
YJT: Again, absolutely. We are a progressive company and our human resource policy reflects that. We feel that individuals who take responsibility for their role in the Earth's ecosystem, and who are impassioned about sustainability, will inherently be responsible and passionate workers. We're confident that every member of our company has a personal stake in our sustainability efforts.
LSBC: Did the program have an impact on your own climate smarts?
YJT: I gained a massive amount of information about the mechanics of greenhouse gas emissions, the protocols that have been instituted to govern them, strategies to manage them, the carbon offset system and everything in between. I definitely feel smarter about climate change.
LSBC: Would you recommend the program to other businesses?
YJT: Without a doubt. In fact, I'm putting together a presentation to my networking groups in an effort to enlist more small businesses to participate in Climate Smart. We also campaign our supply chain to do the same. I honestly believe in the merits and power of the Climate Smart program and would leap at the opportunity to share that with any business owner.
For information about the training program, visit Climate Smart. For information about LiveSmart BC's Climate Smart Contest, click here.
