The Prince's Mayday Network

A guide to using the Mayday Sustainable Business Tracker and Report Back

What is Report Back?

HRH the Prince of Wales requests that companies in his Mayday Network declare their carbon footprint to the Mayday Team each year so that progress made across the network in reducing carbon emissions can be tracked. Report Back is the process of submitting this carbon footprint using the Sustainable Business Tracker on the Mayday website. A company is considered to have officially completed Report Back once carbon emissions from energy have been submitted, although this year there is also the opportunity to report back on other data, for example, transport, water and waste.

There is also lots of supports and tips on how to engage your employees, suppliers and customers, how to build resilience and ultimately transform your business into a sustainable model.

You can work through it sequentially or search for specific things that you need.

Why Report Back?

Report Back enables you to track your progress along the Mayday Journey – from reducing costs, engaging employees, building resilience to climate change and transforming your business strategy. In particular, it gives you:

• An easy way of calculating your carbon emissions, tracking your progress year-on-year, and identifying opportunities to reduce emissions and save costs.
• The ability to track progress in other key areas such as transport, water and waste.
• A simple checklist to track where you are on the journey, identify priority actions for the year ahead, and advice on how to achieve these changes in your organisation.
• A platform to demonstrate your credibility and progress in this area - the new Mayday website will show which members have reported back this year
• Use of our logo on your marketing communication if you complete the Report Back process, along with the active dandelion widget that communicates your sustainability aims and objectives.
• You cannot effectively manage and reduce carbon emissions until you understand where they are coming from. Companies that understand their emissions can be open and disclose them to the public. These companies consistently outperform those companies unable to make this information available. As well as being good for the efficient running of your business, having the confidence to discuss your emissions in public builds confidence in your brand.
• Carbon emissions are a major cause of climate change, and the government has committed the UK to a 80% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050, and is aiming to reduce emissions by 60% by 2030. Measuring and reducing carbon emissions reduces the risk of incurring costs due to future carbon related legislation
• A large proportion of carbon emissions are associated with energy use and transport, so reducing carbon emissions is likely to deliver financial savings to the bottom line.
• Consumers are increasingly concerned about climate change, so it is important to be able to demonstrate that your company is taking a responsible approach to reducing carbon emissions.

Why is it important to measure and reduce my carbon emissions?

Guidelines for Completing Report Back 

There is so much information that exists about becoming more sustainable and we know it must get really confusing. The improved Mayday Journey allows you to explore those steps of the Journey that you need help on and signpost only to the most useful resources.

Feel free to dip into the Journey at whichever stage your company is at or start at the beginning with the reduce costs steps.

Here are some tips to help you on your Mayday Journey.

Become a member of The Mayday Network

• Click “Register” in the top right hand corner of the site.
• Enter a username, your email address, password, and details for you and company.
• Click on “Create new account”.

Report your company’s carbon emissions from energy use

• Sign in to the website using your email and the password you created. Although we only give out one login per account we encourage numerous company employees to use the login and gain the support they may need. If you do not know your company’s logon details, please email us at hello@maydaynetwork.com
• Click on “The Journey” and then “Update” to enter your organisation’s energy use in your choice of unit.
• Alternatively you can enter your carbon footprint in kg CO₂e if you have already calculated total carbon emissions from energy.

Report on your waste, travel, transport

You also have the option to simply browse the journey and access the top tips which does not require logging in. However we recommend logging in because this will allow you to input data such as your carbon footprint, water footprint, travel consumption and wastage and have it available online to access 24/7.

If you come across a top tip that you think your company can implement in the next 12 months you can add it as a step you intend to undertake on your business's journey.

Share your case study.

Throughout the Mayday Journey you will be able to read inspiring stories from companies who have achieved progress on that specific step of the journey. You are encouraged to write up your own case studies and submit them to be added to the website here. Add photos, videos and other documents to help bring your story to life!

Make your company profile page something to be proud of

Every member of the Mayday Network gets their own profile page to showcase their sustainable activities. Your journey stories, relevant news and information will be automatically posted on your company profile page. The data you input into the Sustainable Business Tracker can also be shown on your profile, but only if you tick that you are ok with it being public.

Spread the good word of the Prince’s Mayday Network

If you know of any information, links or organizations that might be useful to Mayday Network members on their sustainability journeys - please forward these to us to be considered for inclusion in the journey.

Frequently Asked Questions

What happens if I don’t report back?

Businesses that don’t report back will not be eligible to use the Mayday logo or have the opportunity to have their stories showcased in the year ahead. The team is here to help so please get in touch if you are having problems. If you are not able to calculate a carbon footprint we invite you to participate in the Network in some other way, for example, by submitting a case study or coming to an event or webinar.

What if I don’t know what my carbon footprint is?

Don’t worry – the Sustainable Business Tracker enables you to enter your energy use from utility bills and will calculate your carbon footprint for you. If you have already calculated your company’s carbon footprint it is a simple process to enter this directly on the site. We are also on-hand to talk you through how to calculate a simple carbon footprint Please contact Matt Mellen on 0207 566 8729 if you have any queries.

What information do I need to have to complete report back?

• To complete the energy carbon footprint, all you need is a report from a previously calculated organisational carbon footprint, or energy bills corresponding to the last 12 months.
• To complete further sections of the Report Back process, you will need
  • Water usage for the last 12 months.
  • Weight of weight sent to landfill for the last 12 months.
  • Details of total number of kilometres travelled by car, train, plane and bus.
  • Details of your current environmental policy and plans.

Last year I reported to Mayday through the Carbon Disclosure Project. Will I be able to do that again this year?

Not directly. We will ask that all business take the time to input their data and stories directly into the Mayday site this year, letting us know if you are also disclosing to the CDP so that we can publicise that on your profile page. If this is a problem for you, please contact Matt Mellen on 0207 566 8729.

What happens to the data?

The Mayday Team uses Report Back as a means to quantify the effectiveness of the Network both in terms of individual companies and of the Network as a whole. The data is used to identify the most effective environmental sustainability strategies and to enable all stakeholders to more effectively respond to environmental challenges.

Mayday Report Back is not a certification scheme. Data is voluntarily submitted and is an estimate. The data is not verified. There is no public list of performance and companies are encouraged to honestly and accurately assess their carbon footprint as part of the commitment they made when they joined the Prince’s Mayday Network.

When do I need to complete Report Back by?

The Mayday Reporting season is open from June 2011 till the end of August 2011. We encourage you to submit your carbon footprint by then so that it can be used when we report back to our founder HRH the Prince of Wales on the Mayday Network's aggregrate carbon reduction for 2011.

When will the results be finalised?

The updated Mayday website will allow you to enter your profile page anytime and modify your data. The Mayday Team will be extracting the data from the Network for analysis at the end of August. We encourage all members to enter their data before then so that it can be included for analysis.

What if I miss the deadline?

If you miss the deadline (end of August) your data will not be included in the analysis for 2011. Please do come back to the site and enter your data after this period, as it is still useful for your records and to reaffirm your commitment to the Network.

Not another organisation asking for my carbon footprint! What if I have already given information to 10:10, Carbon Trust, CDP etc.

If you have already calculated your carbon footprint it is very quick and easy to drop it into the Mayday website. Our new online tool provides some very useful support that we have been developing over the year. See the benefits sections for more reasons to use the Mayday tool.

I don’t want the whole world knowing what my carbon footprint is

Companies that understand their impacts can be open and disclose them to the public. These companies consistently outperform those companies unable to make this information available. As well as being good for the efficient running of your business, having the confidence to discuss your emissions in public builds confidence in your brand. We encourage companies to join the Network and share data. However, if you are not ready to go public there is the option to submit your data but not for public view.