Some day – and that day will come if it hasn’t already – your client will ask you about what sustainability measures your company has in place. If your answer includes the phrase ‘and we’re offsetting our excess carbon emissions’, then you probably don’t need to read on.

If, however, the question elicits some combination of nervous shuffling, uncomfortable silence or creative stalling, help is at hand.

Evidence that fossil fuel consumption contributes to global warming has lead many companies to investigate becoming carbon neutral.

Even if you recycle paper and ride a bike to work, it may not mean you are carbon neutral. To know where you stand, it’s best to get an independent assessment. This means your company’s products, operations and activities have had their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions measured, calculated, reduced and then ‘offset’ through the purchase of carbon credits (which means, if you are emitting five tonnes of carbon per year, you then buy the equivalent amount of credits in tree planting or treating methane gas at landfills until your position becomes neutral).

To do this properly, a company’s carbon footprint can be measured through independent life-cycle assessment (LCA). This guards against the risk of losing credibility with the public and clients, who may suspect ‘greenwash’ – making claims that can’t be verified. To avoid this, a number of government approved agencies can assess and verify your company’s greenhouse credentials, particularly the carbon emissions you produce.

These independent verifiers can be found on the federal government’s Department of Climate Change website.  It’s here that you’ll also find out about the new National Carbon Offset Standard (NCOS), the updated version of the highly respected Greenhouse Friendly program.

Depending on the size of your company, ‘cradle-to-grave’ life-cycle assessments can cost a few thousand dollars. This is audited annually by the same company who first assess you (at additional, though reduced cost) to see if you are meeting the targets you set and if more carbon offsets have to be purchased.

Getting independent verification can seem like a double-up, but it’s all about providing rigour and integrity to the certification process. The ACCC’s  Green Marketing and Trade Practices Act details the rules around green claims. (Visit www.accc.gov.au and www.climatechange.gov.au/greenhouse friendly for more info). And to get an idea of the parameters involved, the ISO14040 provides the framework for conducting LCAs (www.iso.org).

The benefits to businesses are obvious. But not just in terms of reputation within the community, or a reduction in costs via improvements in the production process. As a supplier to bigger businesses, being carbon neutral may be a matter of economic survival.

Perhaps the most famous example of big business calling the sustainability shots is Walmart, the largest employer in the US. In 2009 it announced a Sustainability Index to which its 100,000 plus suppliers are accountable. The reason behind it, Walmart’s president and CEO Mike Duke explained, was that: “Customers want products that are more efficient, that last longer and perform better. And increasingly, they want information about the entire lifecycle of a product so they can feel good about buying it. They want to know that the materials in the product are safe, that it was made well and that it was produced in a responsible way. We do not see this as a trend that will fade. Higher customer expectations are a permanent part of the future.”

The reason suppliers are being asked these questions all comes back to the lifecycle assessment. Suppliers are part of a business’s lifecycle, which the widely used international accounting tool Greenhouse Gas Protocol breaks down in to three components or scopes.

Scope 1 is all direct GHG emissions. Scope 2 covers the indirect GHG emissions from consumption of purchased power. And Scope 3: other indirect emissions, such as what goes into the production of purchased materials and fuels, transport-related activities in vehicles not owned or controlled by the reporting entity, electricity-related activities not covered in scope 2, outsourced activities, waste disposal, etc. Design is a Scope 3 emission to a business.

But just as you can ask questions of your suppliers – such as printers – as to the sustainability of their business and practices, your clients may, if they haven’t already, ask you what you are doing.

Solutions can lead to stronger business relationships and, of course, a cleaner planet.