As part of our work to understand the greenhouse gas emissions associated with our business and the trips we offer, in 2024 we carried out a carbon assessment with eCollective.

This assessment was based on our business activities and trip offerings at the time the calculations were carried out, using data and information available to us then. 

How did we measure? 

When we refer to ‘carbon’ or ‘CO2e’ (carbon dioxide equivalent), we mean greenhouse gas emissions expressed as an equivalent amount of carbon dioxide. The figures from our assessment are expressed in kilograms of CO2e.

We assessed two broad areas. Emissions associated with operating our business, including our offices, staff travel and remote working; and emissions associated with the customer trips we offered.

Because the assessment involved a number of different activities, suppliers and data sources, we worked with eCollective to help us establish the methodology and calculate the associated emissions.

The assessment considered the following areas of our business:

Macs HQ and global offices 

We considered emissions associated with operating our Glasgow headquarters and our offices in Germany and the US, alongside home working and other business activities.

Office & remote working  

This included factors such as energy used to heat and power offices, water, waste and food consumption.

Post 

We considered the impact associated with sending customer documents and brochures, as well as post received by the business.

Staff business travel 

The assessment included work-related travel and accommodation, covering different forms of transport such as air, car, bus, train and ferry.

Website 

We considered factors including the geographical distribution of website users and information available about the energy used by the platform hosting our website.

Staff events hosted by the business 

We’ve done some digging relating to the venues, accommodation, employee travel and meals for these events. 

Staff commuting 

We also included staff commuting in the assessment, where relevant data was available.

Purchased Goods 

This included items such as IT equipment, phones, screens and other equipment, as well as marketing materials including merchandise, brochures, posters and banners.

Customer trips 

We also calculated estimated emissions associated with the trips we offered.

As every trip has a different itinerary, destination, duration and set of inclusions, the calculated emissions varied between trips.

The original assessment was based on our 2022 trip offerings. Each trip was assessed using information about its itinerary, suppliers and the following included elements, where applicable. Estimated emissions associated with:

• Accommodation: everything it takes to create a home away from home. 
• Meals– the origin of ingredients, the production of produce and what goes into rustling up all the delicious meals you’ll enjoy on our trips. 
• Luggage transfers – while you’re out and about our suppliers pick up and drop off your luggage at the next place on most of our adventures. 
• Passenger transfers – a few adventures include airport transfers or the need to transfer customers from A to B.  
• Car hire – customers will be behind the wheel on their Drive & Hike or Self-Drive trip. 
• Excursions – some trips come with an experience included, others have excursion add-ons. 
• Internal flights – some of our trips require hopping on a short internal flight.  
• Rail travel - some trips like our Rail & Hike adventures include rail passes to help you get around the region more easilly. 

We do not arrange or provide transportation for customers travelling to and from the start and end points of their trips. As a result, these journeys were not included in our customer-trip calculations. 

This means that the assessment did not represent the total emissions associated with a customer's entire journey from home and back again. For example, where a customer travelled by air to reach the starting point of a trip, that flight was outside the scope of our calculation.

eCollective have done some digging into how to choose low carbon flights, which could be a handy read! 

 
How did we rate our trip’s carbon score? 

Each of our trips have been given a score based on the average amount of Co2e emitted into the atmosphere by each adventurer taking that holiday, per night.

The figures should be understood as estimates rather than precise measurements. 

‘The Carbon Score’ 

1-20kg = Best footprint (3 leaves) - this the best grade to be in and where we’re working on getting as many of our trips as possible into. All trips within this category leave a smaller footprint on the planet. 

21- 40kg = Better Footprint (2 leaves) - this grade is still very good, but we’ve identified ways we can make trips in this grade better. Watch this space... 

41 - 60kg = Good Footprint (1 leaf) - while our self-guided trips are naturally a low-impact way to travel, those that sit in this grade either need evolving to reduce their carbon score, or include unavoidable things like internal flights, that make it trickier to improve. But we’re working on it! 

Our average trip’s (per person, per night) carbon score is 17kg CO2e, sitting nicely within the Best Footprint category. That’s the equivalent of eating 4.5 full English breakfasts! 

You may notice that some of our trips haven’t been given a score yet. That’s because either the trip is new and we haven’t finalised its score yet, or the trip includes some intricacies that mean it’s taking a bit longer than others to calculate.

We strive for an honest approach to this important subject, so we just want to highlight that some of our trip scores are based on informed estimations and perhaps aren’t 100% accurate. This has been a huge learning curve for us, and we’re continuously working to improve and finesse our assessment process, so we can swiftly work on getting accurate results in the future. 

What we can guarantee, is that all our trips are more environmentally friendly than a cruise. So, forget ocean liners and come on over to the adventurous side – where you’re immersed in nature, not admiring it from a distance. 

What have we learned?

The assessment helped us identify the different activities and elements of our trips that contribute to the emissions within the scope of the calculation.

We continue to review how we operate and how we work with our suppliers and local partners, including opportunities to support local communities and care for the trails and places where our trips take place.

Learn more about our wider commitment to travel we believe in and our approach.