Spherics is a new startup in Bristol offering a digital tool to help businesses measure, mitigate and manage their environmental impact. In this blog post below, co-founder George Sandilands gives an overview of the tool and offers Partnership members an opportunity to use the platform for free, as part of the Climate Action Programme. 

Introducing… Spherics, an exciting new startup in Bristol empowering businesses with a digital tool to measure, mitigate and manage their environmental impact.

Spherics are offering the free use of their platform to businesses in the Bristol Green Capital Partnership network for 6 months, during their beta testing phase. The offer is applicable to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), who for our purposes are defined as non-subsidiary, independent companies with fewer than 500 employees.

So, what is Spherics? 

Put simply, Spherics is a digital platform designed to help your business embrace environmental accountability. It takes data from software you already use in your day-to-day operations, and then requests supporting information to make an accurate estimate of your overall impact. The tool then makes suggestions of how to reduce this impact.

Whilst many businesses are doing their best to be sustainable, we know that in practice it is often difficult to understand what to do, and how to do it. There is much confusion, jargon and so-called ‘greenwashing’ out there, so we’ve designed Spherics to cut through the noise and help organisations embrace better practices with fewer resources.

The idea for Spherics was formed when two senior colleagues at a Bristol-based creative agency, now co-founders at Spherics, began to look for tools to support decarbonisation. They concluded that what was on offer was either too expensive (consultants), too time consuming (detailed surveys requiring much source data) or insufficient (such as a tool measuring fuel and electricity consumption alone). Spherics’ mission was to make environmental action accessible and approachable for any business.

So, how does it work? 

Broadly speaking, Spherics support the completion of three key sustainability activities: Measure, Mitigate and Manage.

Measurement

It starts with measurement. Spherics automates the collection of data from your accounting software to quickly generate a carbon impact. Every quarter, the system asks for a review of key information, but it’s a small investment of time in exchange for trustworth metrics that matter.

We are committed to aligning with the most stringent science-based standards, use industry-specific datasets and an open methodology that we regularly peer-review.

Mitigation

Spherics then analyses company activity against multiple data sources and industry trends to provide detailed user-specific feedback on ways to improve. We also aggregate industry specific reduction strategies from trusted sources, and guide users to set reduction targets against the market – introducing a welcome note of transparency and competition to the practice of sustainability.

Manage

The final stage is about providing communication assets to help the company in question to communicate their efforts and commitments truthfully without fear of greenwashing. By committing to the latest science-based standards, our data and tools enable you to confidently report, accredit and demonstrate a positive brand story by embracing accountability.

How to get involved? 

Spherics’ software is currently in beta testing and are looking for Bristol-based companies who want to explore their sustainability journey further. Whether you already track your impact in-house, using a consultant, or you’ve never done it before, we want to hear from you.

Our expert team will support you through the process, map the actions you take and you’ll help them test the latest iteration of their product with you for feedback.

This is a great opportunity to input to the development of a tool that has been built in Bristol, galvanising the urgent and necessary action needed from the business community.

To apply for a a trial of the platform, visit the website.

For any questions, get in touch with George.