Cenit College and their Carbon Footprint

Contribution to net zero greenhouse gas emission

The delivery of this agreement can contribute to net zero greenhouse gas emissions in the following ways;

1. Deliver online – eliminating the need to travel
2. Deliver locally – where learning is face to face, thus cutting down on the use of transport.
3. Use less paper – zero paper for online delivery and the use of pdf or other electronic alternatives. Printers will only be used as a necessity.
4. Educate our learners and staff about climate change – our staff already receive climate action training. Our learners will receive our climate action policy and upon induction will be informed of our proposed steps to contribute to net zero greenhouse gas emissions and what they can do to contribute.
5. Energy efficiency: Lights are not left on
6. Waste Management: Recycling bins are clearly labelled. “Good Food” practices that encourage zero food waste.
7. Sustainable procurement – buying goods and services locally and recycling where possible.
8. We use an online resource to measure our carbon footprint each month. We publish results to learners and staff.

Opportunities to minimise our carbon footprint in the delivery of this agreement

We assure you we are committed to minimising our carbon footprint in the delivery of this agreement. We intend to perform our normal net zero carbon emission activities as part of this delivery, as detailed in the section “Contribution to net zero greenhouse gas emission” above.

As part of our internal staff meetings to review how the delivery is going, we will ensure that “opportunities to minimise our carbon footprint” is an agenda item. Our Climate Change Officer is always looking for new opportunities to minimise carbon footprints. We pledge to review what we are doing and see how we can do it better.

Re-using and Recycling

Cenit College re-use and recycle as much as possible, as follows;

• Reusable cups and eliminate the “take-away” culture
• Recycle our toner cartridges
• Recycling bins
• Minimise the effects and adapt to anticipated climate change, innovation and future-proofing.
• Recycling of retired IT equipment

Climate Change

Climate Change is an agenda item in the monthly management meetings. At Cenit College, we take climate change and action seriously. We have appointed one of our staff as a Climate Change Officer. This role entails keeping abreast of current climate change best practices and overseeing the implementation of new practices within Cenit College.

At the monthly management meetings, the Climate Change Officer will provide a report on our contribution to climate change. They will also suggest measures to minimise the effects and adapt to anticipated climate change. For example, as the weather has become warmer, one of our most recent means of adapting and minimising effects has been watching our water consumption. Water taps have been replaced to avoid the risk of being left on. There has also been an investment in a more economical dishwasher.

We seek innovative practices in reducing our carbon footprint and intend to future-proof. We also encourage learners to contribute innovative ideas. At Cenit College, we are looking at ways to use solar power to replace some of our current energy sources.

Future-proof

We future-proof in the following ways;

• Operate lean practices – Lean helps us make better decisions about where our future value lies. Lean practices help us rethink some of our decisions, such as using transport, securing premises and packaging supplies.
• Development of strategies that correspond to climate change – (i) Elimination of waste, (ii) Pull and Flow (use products only as needed, delivery courses only as required) and (iii) Value Stream Mapping (we look at what services we deliver, reduce redundant steps and always aim to provide a high-quality service. High quality reduces the need to “fix” which often leads to increased energy consumption.
• Continuous improvement – by looking at how we can continually improve our carbon footprint, we are future-proofing our action against climate change. Each little improvement is progress to our net zero goals.

Data on Greenhouse Gas Emissions

We use an online toolkit to generate a carbon footprint report. 

Contact

Please contact enquiries@cenitcollege.ie.