Park Ecovillage Trust (PET) collaborates with Carbon Footprint Ltd, which provides a free-to-use calculator for individuals, households, and businesses to measure their total carbon footprint over a year—or for specific emissions, such as flights.

The calculator also allows you to choose carbon offsetting, though it is important to understand its limits. Offsetting can help balance emissions that cannot yet be reduced, but it cannot replace the need for direct emission reductions or support local ecosystem regeneration.

PET will be soon integrating a new dimension into our carbon strategy: selecting local “carbon sink” or “low carbon” projects in Scotland. These initiatives focus on regenerating ecosystems, restoring soils, enhancing biodiversity, and supporting local communities, giving members more ways to take responsibility for their carbon footprint close to home.

Go to the calculation website

The calculator is easy to use. If you use the Comment box, you will remember next time what you included in each Category and how you got the data.

How to use the calculator

When you open the site choose Individual. You can also choose Individual if you are a small business. Then press Start Calculating. The new page that comes up shows the different emissions sources, such as Electricity, Natural Gas, Fuel etc. Press Start Calculating. You need to scroll down a bit.

If you only want to calculate and offset a particular emission, click on that box, for instance flights.

Question about Electricity: In the Park Ecovillage Findhorn we are on a Renewable tariff. Add up your bills for 2024 and put in the total kWh.

Next is Natural Gas: Check your bills. Choose Unit of Measurement and put in Amount of m3 or kWh.

Go to Fuel: Choose Fuel Category and Fuel Type. Choose Liquid Fuels if you use Fuel oil and Solid Fuel and Biomass if you burn Logs or Pellets. Make an estimate if you don’t know exactly how much you’ve used.

Move on to Cars. Answer Yes, if you know how much you consumed (kept filling station receipts). Otherwise Choose No and you can put in km or miles. There are also options for Hybrid and Electric. Do you have two cars? You can calculate both.

Now, we come to Flights: You can fill in 3 flights. If you fly the same route several times, put in the number of flights under Number of Passengers. Getting the emissions for several passengers is equal to fly the same distance again and again.

If you still have more than 3 different flights do a new calculation for only Flights.

Then there’s Public Transport: You can have four entries. You need to estimate the Distance. If you do the same trip many times multiply the number of times by the Distance.

Distance calculator https://www.distance.to

Finally, you have Spend with 8 entries: Here you will put in how much money you have spent. Unfortunately, money is a very inaccurate measure, but it is the only way to measure without very detailed calculations. You will insert both consumption and investments.

Under Other Food Products we suggest you put in fish, cheese, bread, pasta, eggs etc. Under Motor vehicles you can but in car rental or sharing. There is an option for pubs (restaurants).

Now you can go to Results and your total emissions for 2025.

A reminder: Use the Comment Box to make a note of what items and how much of each you calculate.

When you get the Results, make a copy.

Taking Responsibility: After calculating, you can choose how to balance your emissions.

Remember: offsetting is only part of the solution. PET encourages members to prioritise emission reductions first, support local in-setting projects, and offset responsibly as a final step.

This ensures climate action is both effective and equitable, supporting local regeneration and community benefits rather than outsourcing responsibility elsewhere.