Free online tool to measure your carbon emissions

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John Gormley, the Minister of the Environment, Heritage and local Government has announced the availability of an online tool to help businesses measure their carbon emissions.
Known as the Carbon Management Tool (CMT), the calculator can be found here.
It allows companies to calculate the environmental impact of their energy, transport, water and waste, using data that is tailored to Irish conditions.Firms are then given guidance on actions to manage their operations in order to reduce their carbon footprint.
The information gathered on the CMT is confidential and users are able to access their data at a later stage using a personal login and password.
Launching the tool, Environment Minister John Gormley asserted effective carbon management can help businesses cut costs.”Every organisation can save money through knowing its carbon emissions and taking steps to reduce them through more effective energy supply and usage, improved travel policies and effective water and waste management,” he said. the minister encouraged all companies and voluntary organisations make use of the tool to cut their environmental impact and save cash.

Our view :

The tool is a little cumbersome to navigate and manage but users should stick with it and monitor results to get the best benefits. It is not for the faint hearted facilities manager and the facts and figures on usage need to be prepared in advance. However the long term discipline forced on the user will be repaid with a set of good stats.
An alternative or similar tool is also available from Greenbusiness.ie (http://www.greenbusiness.ie/energy.php) that might be a better first option to get people started.
Either way measurement is the first step to improvement.