A lot of hot air from the October conference!

No, not the speakers - I'm sure everyone appreciated the range, quality and sincerity of their different contributions - but the carbon emissions from travel to the conference.

A 15 bus footprint

We have calculated the carbon footprint of the conference held at Trinity Park on October 16th. Based on responses received, our calculations show that some 2.5 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide were emitted as a result of delegates travelling to and from the conference. This is enough to fill 15 double-decker buses, or roughly the amount saved by a roof-mounted wind turbine over two and a half years.

A 'green' Green conference

That might sound like an awful lot, but it actually demonstrates quite a positive achievement. With over 400 people attending the conference, many of them with a considerable way to travel, this figure reflects a number of efforts to minimise our impact. One of the things that came out very clearly from the calculations was the positive effect of choosing more sustainable forms of transport, whether it be a car share, public transport, or bicycle. If all delegates had driven themselves in a medium-sized car, the emissions would have been in the region of 4.7 tonnes.

The enormously positive responses received from delegates to the conference, and the added impetus it gave to the drive to create the Greenest County highlighted the value of major events for raising awareness and stimulating debate. Without compromising that value, it is important that we consider any possibilities to reduce negative environmental impact, both because this is something we strive to do in all areas of our work, and to demonstrate a model of sustainability for others to follow. This is a learning process, but with the commitment of those we work with we can have a really positive impact.

Every little helps!

Another point that came out of the footprinting process was the need to consider transport options when planning for a conference. Of course, this needs to be balanced with the need for a venue that will be adequate to the needs of the event. For many conference delegates travelling from rural Suffolk to the venue in the outskirts of Ipswich, there really was no alternative to the car (though a large number of delegates in this position did manage to find somebody to share their journey with). Various features that we offered to help with transport, such as the free train tickets generously provided by One Railways and the free bus from Ipswich station, also received good uptake and contributed to making our event a green conference in more ways than one!

The Creating the Greenest County team and BT are now hard at work putting the finishing touches to our next event, a Business and the Environment conference to be held at BT's Adastral Park on February 12th. We will be building on our experiences from October to ensure that we do all we can to keep this event's footprint even lower. Details of sustainable transport options will be publicised on this website, and sent out to conference delegates at the end of January.

Number Crunching

The table below shows how delegates' travel is divided up between the different methods of transport and, both by the numbers of users and the distance covered. It also shows how these different transport forms contributed differently to the overall footprint, highlighting the disproportionate impact of using a car as a sole occupant.

Did you attend the October conference? Help us to make our figures more accurate and to plan for sustainable transport to future events by completing our transport questionnaire.