COMATCH is a curated marketplace for independent consultants and industry experts. Our mission is to reinvent the way organizations assemble the best expertise by combining innovative technology with personal service. 

The company was founded in 2014 by former McKinsey consultants Christoph Hardt and Jan Schächtele.

Today, it is the leading online marketplace for independent consultants in Europe—matching the world’s top professionals with organizations of all sizes and focus areas.

“Treating resources responsibly" was one of our values from the start, but it was only when a group of very engaged employees from different departments teamed up and formed the Green Initiative that the topic of sustainability came to life. Awareness around green topics, therefore, increased in the company, and among the consultants in our network. Now, step by step, COMATCH is becoming more eco-conscious. For example, the Green Initiative implemented recycling systems in our offices, we switched to an environmentally friendly energy provider, and opted for hand dryers rather than paper towels. We also partnered with atmosfair to offset our carbon footprint.

You cannot improve if you don't know where you are standing. Use either our build-in carbon estimator or work with a third party to analyze your carbon footprint. Afterwards offset your footprint and upload the certificate as a confirmation.

Decide how you want to measure your emissions

Measure your scope 1 and 2 emissions

Map and estimate your scope 3 emissions

Update your calculation from year-to-year

Document your approach and communicate publicly

Measure your emissions across Scope 1, 2 and 3

Set up a "green" channel

Introduce a “green” information channel

Mark this action as planned to enroll in the program

Use your product or service to do good

Join our Time for Climate Action campaign

Customize your microsite

Add the badge to your website and link to the microsite

Implement our “We Take Climate Action” badge and microsite

Decide about your offset strategy

Invest into carbon offsets

Remove carbon emissions that you can‘t reduce 

Note: you need to work with a third party to calculate Scope 3 emissions and get this badge.

Even if you’re not ready yet to commit to offsetting your extended footprint, it’s worth measuring it regularly and tracking changes. 

To calculate Scope 3 emissions, you need to use more sophisticated calculation tools than for Scope 1 and 2, as you should collect data about nearly all your business processes and products.

Consider these options from non-profit organizations: [Smart 3 by MyClimate](https://www.myclimate.org/information/news-press/news/newsdetail/a-management-tool-for-new-and-existing-partners-myclimate-smart-3/), [Climate Neutral](https://bee.climateneutral.org/)

You can also find calculation tools specialized in some product groups: food, travel, fashion, etc.

Calculate Scope 3 emissions 

It’s not a one-time action.You can start with 100% offsetting for the previous year, but in general it means that you include the costs of product offsetting in your prices and/or cut your margins. 
You can also negotiate with your suppliers and share offsetting costs with them. 

If you are not ready for such measures yet, you can offer your customers to buy products themselves or with additional offsetting prices. It’s the easiest and safest option, but it will not help you to cover even half of Scope 3 emissions. 

Offset 100% of the calculated footprint

Complete Climate Neutrality

Make sure that:
- you have a company-wide recovery and recycling program that includes: paper, cardboard, plastic, glass, metal, and composting
- you recycle waste not only from the kitchen but also all papers in your working spaces, cartons at your warehouse, etc.
- your utility service works with all types of waste after you separate it, so it goes into the correct waste sorting centers.

Proper waste separation system

What you can do to print less:
- implement electronic signature systems where possible
- instead of printing reports before business meetings, use more screens in meeting rooms
- decrease the amount of pages by reducing font or page border sizes of regularly printed documents: contracts, agreements, etc.
- add a reminder to print less in your corporate signatures
- as a default setting, double-sided printing in black and white is recommended.

Plus, you can recycle your printer cartridges using a free recycling box from [Caritas](https://www.caritas.de/spendeundengagement/andershelfen/caritasbox/caritasboxstartseite). 

Minimal printing policy

Mark this action as completed if you will buy office supplies made from recycled materials, produced and delivered in an eco-friendly way from now on. 

Recycled paper is 100% made from used paper, saving resources and water. Although the recycled paper is no longer pure white, it is also free of peroxides, sodium carbonate, and sodium hydroxide. These chemicals are used both in the production of fresh fibre paper and for bleaching paper. Recycled paper has two to three times lower energy consumption during production. 

At [Memo](http://www.memo.de), [EarthHero](https://earthhero.com/product-category/home/office-supplies/), or [GreenPicks](https://www.greenpicks.de/en/office-supplies-stationery/) you can find all of your sustainable office supplies.

Eco-friendly office supplies: paper, post-its, pens, business cards, etc. 

One of the projects where you can find cleaning products and soap without microplastic: [Zero Waste Era](https://www.zerowasteera.com)

Mark this action as completed if you will buy only eco-friendly cleaning products and soap for your office from now on. 

Conscious office cleaning: eco-friendly cleaning products, minimal bins and plastic bags

Our aim here is to minimize the delivery footprint and support local businesses.
Only purchase food and drinks with verified environmental standards. 


 Responsible food and drink: local, organic, seasonal

These purchases can influence your carbon footprint significantly. 
- implement a repair-first policy: it's better to fix a laptop than buy a new one
- regularly calculate and check the footprint created by your equipment purchases (some companies, such as [Apple](https://www.apple.com/environment/pdf/products/notebooks/13-inch_MacBookPro_PER_may2019.pdf) and [Dell](https://i.dell.com/sites/csdocuments/CorpComm_Docs/en/carbon-footprint-latitude-7490.pdf), share data about their products’ footprint on their websites)
- when you need to buy things for your new office, don't just pay attention to them being made of ‘natural’ materials, but also to their production footprint
- utilize old and broken equipment in specially designated places.

Responsible use of office equipment and furniture

Here are some ideas on how to make your marketing materials more eco-friendly:
- at conferences, fairs, and festivals, consider digital ways to interact with potential customers: screens, VR & AR, QR-codes, projections, e-business cards, and catalogs, etc.
- if you do choose to produce some giveaways, opt for materials with less of an end-of-life process
- order production locally to avoid causing additional emissions through deliveries
- improve your planning process to minimize waste after events.

Minimal giveaways: t-shirts, flyers, stickers, etc.

What you can do:
- encourage your colleagues to order food delivery less: organize lunch in your office, subsidize lunch in the nearest cafes, or arrange food delivery in reusable containers,
- make sure you use glasses in your office and wash them instead of one-use plastic cups,
- buy beverages in returnable glass bottles,
- buy office snacks in bigger packages with less plastic.

Minimal plastic waste: no plastic cups and bottles, reduced food delivery waste

Install low-flow faucets, toilets, and urinals in your office. 
Low-flow should meet or exceed the following EPA WaterSense standards: faucets use a maximum of [1.5 gpm](http://www.epa.gov/WaterSense/products/bathroom_sink_faucets.html), toilets - [max 1.28 gallons per flush](http://www.epa.gov/WaterSense/products/toilets.html).


Discover how COMATCH is taking climate action

COMATCH joined forces with hundreds of others to take immediate, collaborative, and transparent action to fight climate change.

Raising the bar on climate leadership