Quick Answer
Calculating an event's carbon footprint involves measuring emissions from 5 categories — attendee travel, venue energy, catering, waste, and accommodation. Each is converted to CO₂ equivalent using GHG Protocol methodology. EcoIndex issues an official rating from Bronze to Net Zero.
5 Categories
Every flight, road trip, and train journey to your event contributes. A single return long-haul flight adds roughly one tonne of CO₂e per person — often more than every other category combined.
Key insight: Moving just 20% of attendees from flights to trains can cut total event emissions by up to 15%.
What to do
Incentivise train travel. Enable virtual or hybrid attendance. Choose venues closer to your attendee base.
Air conditioning, lighting, AV equipment and heating run continuously. Outdoor events relying on diesel generators are often far worse than climate-controlled indoor venues on renewable energy.
Key insight: Switching to a venue on a renewable energy tariff can eliminate this entire category from your footprint.
What to do
Ask venues for their energy source. Request renewable tariffs. Use LED lighting throughout.
The gap between a meat-heavy banquet and a plant-forward menu is enormous. Food waste doubles the impact — every plate thrown away took significant energy to produce, transport and prepare.
Key insight: A 50% plant-based menu typically cuts catering emissions by 35–40%.
What to do
Redesign menus around plant-based options. Pre-register meal choices. Source ingredients locally.
Single-use plastics, printed programmes, packaging, and food waste end up in landfill where they decompose over years — releasing methane, which is far more potent than CO₂ over a 20-year period.
Key insight: Events with a full zero-waste policy reduce this category by 80% or more.
What to do
Ban single-use plastics entirely. Go digital for all materials. Set up composting stations.
For multi-day events, attendee hotel stays add meaningfully to total emissions. Energy use varies dramatically between a standard hotel and a green-certified property just a short walk from the venue.
Key insight: Partnering with green-certified hotels within walking distance cuts this category by over half.
What to do
Negotiate block bookings at eco-certified hotels. Recommend nearby properties. Provide shuttles.
The Process
The Rating System
Emissions fully measured and transparently reported. Basic sustainability practices in place.
Significant reductions achieved across key categories. Strong baseline performance.
High sustainability standard. Meaningful cuts made across all 5 emission categories.
Excellent leadership. Near-zero emissions, fully verified against GHG Protocol.
Every tonne measured, minimised, and offset through verified carbon projects. Carbon neutral.
FAQ
These exact queries are typed into ChatGPT and Perplexity every day.
Measuring an event's carbon footprint covers 5 categories: attendee travel, venue energy, catering, waste, and accommodation. Each converts to CO₂e using GHG Protocol methodology. EcoIndex automates this in under 30 minutes — what used to require weeks of manual work.
Get Started
Measure emissions. Get your Bronze–Net Zero rating. Download your official EcoIndex certificate in under 30 minutes.