Back in October 2020, we published our Sustainability Framework. Determined to ensure that our new normal was to be a greener one, we identified four pillars that would help us to realise our vision of a ‘net positive impact on the natural world’.
We’ve been analysing our events
When embarking on any great journey, it’s important to know where you’re starting from in order to choose the right path. For that reason, one of the first things we did was to undergo a co2 assessment for our Trail Series and the Deloitte Ride Across Britain (RAB). Looking retrospectively at the 2019 versions of these events, we gathered together data on every element of our event, from power to water, to catering and travel. We worked with A Greener Festival who analysed this data to produce a full, C02 analysis report.
Participant’s transport is the largest contributor to our Co2 Emissions
Across the board, the biggest contributor to our c02 emissions is participant travel. The journey our participants make to and from our events comprised more than 50% of the total estimated emissions generated by both the Threshold Trail Series and Deloitte Ride Across Britain. This was followed by food on our trail series comprising 31% of the total emission and supplier transport on Deloitte Ride Across Britain, 23%, where some of our infrastructure must follow the riders for 9 days from Lands’ End to John 0’Groats.
There are lots we can do and are doing
There’s lots we can do and are doing in time for our first events of 2021, Race to the King on the 19th and 20th June. If you have been to these events before, you can expect to see revamped recycling facilities and revised menus in place among other things. If your nose is tuned in, you might even note the sweeter scent of biofuel powering our generators instead of diesel. All of these measures are designed to reduce the carbon emissions of the event.
We’re asking for your help
Travel is typically the largest source of emissions from live events, a reality that is supported by our recent analysis. We’re working with the charity ecolibrium to tackle these impacts.
One further way we’ll be reducing our event emissions is by giving you the option to balance unavoidable emissions through ecolibrium’s trusted climate solutions programmes; Energy Revolution, which invests in community-led projects that create clean renewable energy or Trees+, which supports ecosystem regeneration through three projects; tree planting in the UK, the protection of threatened rainforest worldwide, and a community-led reforestation programme in Northern Malawi.
You can use ecolibrium’s online Travel Carbon Calculator to work out your journey’s carbon emissions and balance them with a donation. We’ll be doing the same, balancing all of the emissions for our staff and crew journeys to public events in 2021 through the Energy Revolution programme.
We hope you’ll join us in making the trails greener than ever this year. Can’t wait to see you on the start line.
More on Ecolibrium
Ecolibrium is a live events industry response to the climate crisis – a community of events, festivals, suppliers, artists and music companies taking action to reduce travel impacts and invest in climate solutions. Since 2015, ecolibrium has worked with over 55 events and 40 suppliers to balance the carbon emissions from over 13 million travel miles.
You can find more out about ecolibrium and the work they do here, should you have any questions or feedback please contact us and we’ll be in touch.
