What Does a Carbon Neutral Future Look Like for Canada’s Business Community

Carbon neutral is a society with no net release of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, which is accomplishable in the modern age usually by offsetting emissions in some way. By reducing consumption and moving towards zero waste, it’s also possible to help minimize carbon dioxide production or association.

Although ‘carbon neutral’ is a concept associated with residential communities, Canada’s business community has also taken a lot of initiative in recycling, donating, reusing, and implementing landfill diversion programs.

Some of the business types in Toronto with carbon neutral or zero waste related goals include restaurants, city suppliers, retailers, hospitality companies, engineering firms, airlines, transportation corporations, law firms, tourism and events management companies, non-profits, grocers, auto-body shops, newspapers, financial institutions, and universities. There are literally 100s of small businesses and major corporations doing amazing things in Toronto to limit their waste production.

There’s some debate currently as to whether Canada as a whole is actually carbon neutral. Fortunately, we have significant amounts of forest which help to offset a lot of the waste production and carbon we produce in our cities or urban environments. In fact, some estimates suggest Canada as a country is already absorbing up to 30 percent more CO2 than it emits.

This is excellent news for Canada today but not necessarily for our future. What we mean is Canada’s resources are going to be developed and mined for profit in the century ahead, just like they’ve been in centuries prior. In addition, Canada continues to grow its population in big ways. Cities will expand, new communities are likely to be established, and connections between the city and rural areas are going to become stronger as new infrastructure and transportation frameworks are built. What does this all mean for carbon production? Likely more of it.

Let’s look at Toronto. There are buildings in Toronto which are working towards being carbon-neutral although few have achieved it. In addition, Canadians as a whole produce more greenhouse gas emissions per person than any other G20 economy. That means in a growing, populated region such as the GTA, is carbon neutral even a possibility right now? Absolutely not. There’s still a lot more work that needs to be done to get us to the point where we are carbon neutral across the board.

There are also questions relating to how we can measure and confirm carbon neutrality. For example, a lot of Toronto’s traffic congestion is believed to be associate with ridesharing in part according to recent report. So companies like Lyft, despite maintaining that every ride is carbon neutral, is creating a lot of carbon in the air within Toronto. So assuming Lyft is being truthful – there’s no reason to doubt them – the corporation is carbon neutral but operations in Toronto aren’t necessarily which leaves the City with more carbon and more pollution.

As a Toronto waste management and recycling company, we are concerned about Toronto’s future as a carbon-producing region. Core Mini Bins continues to do its part in offering environmentally sustainable waste management and recycling services to commercial and industrial parties. The solution to a lack of carbon neutrality will likely come from a combination of things. Regardless, we want to be a part of the Toronto of tomorrow and building a carbon neutral city. Join us.