We’ve got big news, just in time for Earth Day! Spring Bank is officially carbon-neutral! We’ve offset over 192,874.28 kg of CO2e and are helping to preserve the Amazon rainforest and support 80 indigenous families who live in the rainforests of Pará, Brazil as a result.   Through a partnership with fellow B Corp, Carbon Credit Capital, we’ve spent the last several months assessing our carbon outputs in an “emissions inventory.”  The emissions inventory analyzed our business operations from January 1 to December 31, 2018, from our headquarters in the Bronx and our Harlem branch across three significant externalities:

  • Office Energy Consumption: Carbon Credit Capital assessed our use of grid electricity, renewable electricity and natural gas. As of November 1, 2018, we proudly partnered with Green Mountain Energy to source 100 percent renewable energy. We also did a lighting energy saving upgrade at our Bronx headquarter which saved 42,863 kWh. Overall, data showed us that our 2018 energy consumption created an output of 69,985.66 kg CO2e. We are excited that next year this number will be zero!
  • Office Waste: We are taking significant steps to convert our office into a recycling-first, composting organization. Through a waste audit and partnership with GreenFeen OrganiX—a waste management, a worker-owned cooperative that uses innovative green technology and grassroots organizing to redesign current waste systems– these changes include separating organics, paper/cardboard, and metal/glass/plastic for more rigorous recycling and more frequent pick-up. Increased signage, employee training, and the pursuit of an electronics recycler partnership will be implemented in the next few months. Our waste emissions totaled 15,719.95 kg CO2e.
  • Employee Transportation: We assessed the year-round commutes of 37 of our employees, including each employee’s commute distance, transportation modes, and seasonal habits. The carbon outputs of nine business trips outside of NYC and weekly average travel distances for customer site visits were also assessed. Our total transportation emissions for 2018 was 107,168.67 kgCO2e.

Our carbon credits support ADPML, an organization who works with 80 indigenous families to train them in land and land-use stewardship in an area of the Brazilian rainforest that is being logged rapidly and illegally to make room for cattle ranching that further degrades the land. By ensuring over 368,000 acres of virgin rainforest will never be logged for cattle ranching, ADPML expects to reduce over 22 million metric tons (or over 48.4 billion pounds) of greenhouse gas.

We are incredibly proud to be carbon neutral! As a B Corp bank, it’s a journey we’ve been on for many years, and we give gratitude to Carbon Credit Capital for their partnership and guidance as they helped us achieve this milestone.

“We are thrilled to help Spring Bank become carbon neutral and hope that they can be a beacon for other CDFI’s and financial institutions in general to do the same. With this announcement, we’re showing that carbon neutrality is possible and meaningful for everyone,” says Reed Shapiro, Director of Business Development at Carbon Credit Capital.

We can’t think of a better way to celebrate Earth Day!

Read about the Amazonian project our carbon credits support in Brazil. Go carbon neutral and partner with Carbon Credit Capital to assess your footprint. Happy Earth Day!