Getting Started with Carbon Emissions

Carbon Footprinting can seem extremely complicated, and in some instances it is. But we’re here to help explain it, and we don’t even charge by the hour.

Carbon emissions and how to measure them are defined by the GHG Protocol.

• Scope 1: Direct emissions from sources owned or controlled by an organization, like on-site fuel combustion and industrial processes.
• Scope 2: Indirect emissions from purchased electricity, heat, or steam used by the organization.
• Scope 3: Indirect emissions from activities not owned or controlled by the organization, including supply chain, commuting, business travel, and product lifecycle.

Scope 3 emissions are the largest scope by far and they are the most difficult for most companies to measure.

They are broken down into 15 sub-categories to further clarify them.

Upstream refers to activities prior to the formation of the finished goods, while Downstream refers to activities that occur after the good’s creation.

How to calculate emissions in each of these categories is defined in the GHG protocol.

Make it Simple

For a company that makes things, the total carbon footprint is the sum of the company’s Product Carbon Footprints*.

This makes sense intuitively.

If I’m a company which makes 1000 bottles of shampoo, the emissions derived from all that activity will be my corporate carbon footprint. Allocation of carbon to each product is necessary.

This image shows that different stages of a product’s creation are allocated to different sections of a corporations carbon footprint. Source.

Clarification and Examples

We were only telling 99% of the truth above when we said knowing your Product Carbon Footprints is the same as knowing your Corporate Carbon Footprint.