Sustainable Marketing Agency to be Carbon Negative by 2027
What kind of carbon footprint does a digital marketing agency have?
When PAPER & PAGE began the process of becoming a ClimatePartner and Certified B Corporation™, we knew there would be challenges, but surely our environmental impact wasn’t one of them? Our “products” are websites, social media engagement, and great media coverage. As it turns out, nothing’s for free.
See how a Bangkok-based digital communications agency is setting the industry standard for sustainable marketing to become carbon negative by 2027—to sequester more carbon from the atmosphere than we emit.
Calculating and minimizing carbon emissions
Whether it’s in the physical or the digital world, every action we take exacts a toll on the environment. Of course, there were the more mundane costs, like the energy consumption of our co-working space and how our employees travel for work. But then there were hidden factors at play, like the energy consumption of web hosting and social media platforms. By working with ClimatePartner, we were able to calculate our Corporate Carbon Footprint (CCF).
In addition to existing environmental practices such as responsible e-waste disposal, relying on energy-saving electronics, and reducing & recycling paper waste, our agency enshrined additional incentives in our company policies to reduce corporate travel and rely on public transportation. But we weren’t “carbon neutral.”
Investing in carbon offsets
For any unavoidable carbon emissions remaining, we turned to ClimatePartner’s portfolio of carbon offset projects. PAPER & PAGE chose to support a project close at home.
According to a 2020 report by Food Industry Asia (FIA), the agri-food sector employs 127 million people in Southeast Asia and contributed US$717 billion in Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Vietnam alone, making the region a veritable food basket to the world. However, the region is plagued by an unsustainable practice that is common to the region: slash and burn agriculture. At the end of each harvest, farmers across Southeast Asia set fire to their fields to clear away crop debris, which releases greenhouse gasses and contributes to the seasonal smog phenomenon that chokes the region every year.
Instead of burning agricultural waste, the Warm Heart Foundation’s Biochar Phrao Thailand turns it into charred biomass (biochar). Biochar is a permanent carbon sink that can be used in water filtration, medicine, and construction. However, it’s also great as a soil additive to neutralize acidic soil, improve water & nutrient storage, and prevent fertilizers from leaching into the groundwater.
By investing in this project, PAPER & PAGE has become carbon neutral, supporting sustainable practices in Thailand’s agri-food sector and the realization of several Sustainable Development Goals.
But it doesn’t stop there. As an official ClimatePartner, our agency will continue to find ways to reduce our carbon footprint even as the company continues to grow, and achieve our 2027 goal of becoming carbon negative.
Learn more about becoming a ClimatePartner and the work of the Warm Heart Foundation.
