If you’ve ever looked at a carbon emissions report and immediately wanted to slam your laptop shut, you’re not alone. Mike Smith—founder of Aclymate—knows that feeling well. In fact, it’s exactly what led him to start a company designed to make sustainability action attainable for all businesses.
We recently got the chance to sit down with Mike on the Riveo Impact Lab podcast, and let’s just say—Mike wears more hats than climate tech founder. He’s a dad. He’s a veteran. He’s someone who knows the pressure of payroll, meetings, and just trying to make the best decisions with the time you’ve got. And that’s exactly why he built Aclymate.
The Path to Purpose: From Navy to Net Zero
Mike’s career didn’t start in tech or environmental work—it started in the military. He served as a U.S. Navy Officer and worked his way up to Commander. Mike’s experience in the military, though far from startup life, laid the foundation for his leadership and passion for doing meaningful work.
After leaving the Navy, Mike found himself pulled toward work that had long-term impact. He ended up at RenewWest, where he helped lead one of the largest carbon reforestation projects in U.S. history—planting over 2 million trees in Northern California. On the one hand, the experience opened his eyes to the incredible possibilities available to the climate world—but on the other it revealed just how complicated and intimidating that space could be.
And he had a thought: Why does doing the right thing for the environment have to be so hard?
So, he built a better way.
What Aclymate Does (and Why It’s Not Just for Eco-Warriors)
Aclymate is a super approachable platform that helps businesses measure, track, reduce, and offset their carbon emissions. And no, you don’t have to change your entire business overnight. Mike’s whole philosophy is about progress over perfection.
The concept for Aclymate was developed when Mike served as an advisor to the U.S. Climate Alliance, a bipartisan coalition of states and unincorporated self-governing territories in the U.S. that was formed the day after Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Agreement in 2017. “I was advising folks on natural and working lands, carbon markets, climate policy. And I was frustrated because the people with education and that cared about the material didn’t grasp this immediately either.” Mike explained, “I knew that 90% of the problem for climate is not offsets but emissions reductions. And that if these people were having a hard time grasping it, we had a system that was too complex.”
“I knew that 90% of the problem for climate is not offsets but emissions reductions. And that if these people were having a hard time grasping it, we had a system that was too complex.”
The Aclymate platform removes the complexity by supporting companies as they take manageable steps towards climate action. Aclymate assists companies in understanding their environmental footprint, choosing offset projects that connect to shared values, connecting existing company financial tools, does number-crunching, and then offering verifiable options for taking action.
Here at Riveo, we’ve been using Aclymate since 2023, and it’s helped us confidently pursue our own sustainability goals without needing a climate scientist on staff.
Why Small Businesses Should Care About Carbon
At Riveo, we’re a small team with big goals – so we understand the daily struggle of juggling about a hundred things before even enjoying a second cup of coffee. And if you’re like us, you might be wondering: Is this really something I need to focus on right now?
Here’s the thing—your customers, employees, and community are already thinking about sustainability. And beyond that, they’re often choosing to actively support companies that are doing something about it.
Mike explained, “Every American produces somewhere in the ballpark of 19 tons of carbon dioxide emissions every year. So my family of four, if we were the average American family, we’d be approaching 80 tons of emissions. To put it another way, [it’s as if] you were driving in a typical American car and you were dumping about a pound of garbage out the window every mile. We don’t see it because it’s an invisible gas. But in reality, we’re using the atmosphere as a large dumping ground for pollution.”
“Every American produces somewhere in the ballpark of 19 tons of carbon dioxide emissions every year. So my family of four, if we were the average American family, we’d be approaching 80 tons of emissions. To put it another way, [it’s as if] you were driving in a typical American car and you were dumping about a pound of garbage out the window every mile.”
By tracking and reducing your emissions, you’re not just doing something good for the planet (though you are, and that’s a really big deal!)—you’re also making your business stronger and more resilient. You’re:
- Future-proofing your operations
- Meeting the growing expectations of clients and vendors
- Setting yourself apart in a crowded market
- Creating stories and data you can proudly share
And we promise it feels great to stop contributing to the problem and instead become part of the solution.
From Climate Data to Climate Dad
One of the most refreshing things about Mike is that he’s not out to shame or scare people. He’s a parent, like many of us, trying to leave the world a little better than he found it. He even hosts a podcast called The Climate Dad, where he breaks down complex climate change topics into something that everyone can understand.We are already there, and there is no path to where we’ve been.
“Part of my goal when I started that podcast, The Climate Dad, was to just educate people more broadly.” Mike continued to explain, “You shouldn’t lie to your children. And so you shouldn’t hide the truth from them. But you also shouldn’t embellish it, and you shouldn’t make them fearful. Here’s kind of the blunt truth of it. We are never going to be in the climate we grew up in again. When people think, ‘Oh, climate change is irreversible,’ that’s true. Climate change is irreversible. We are already—there and there is no path to where we’ve been.”
Mike’s right, we can’t go back. But we believe in the possibilities of the future, and that’s why we utilize and support organizations like Aclymate.
Small Steps, Big Difference
Mike said it best in the episode—when we think of emissions, we often imagine huge factories and oil rigs. But small businesses collectively make up a huge part of the economy and have enormous potential to create change.
That’s where Aclymate comes in.
So if you’ve ever thought, “I’d love to do more for the environment, but I don’t even know where to start,” this is your sign.
You can learn more about Aclymate and how they’re helping businesses like yours make climate action part of everyday operations.
And if you’re curious about how Riveo tracks our emissions (and how you can too), learn more about our journey toward sustainability.
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