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

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

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 establish the methodology and calculate the associated emissions.

Below is a breakdown of everything we’ve assessed.

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, along with home working and other business activities.

Office & remote working 

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

Post

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

Staff business travel

All types of travel and accommodation for work-related trips have been put under the microscope, including transport by plane, car, bus, train, ferry and other forms of transport.

Website

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

Staff events hosted by the business

We considered venues, accommodation, employee travel and meals associated with events hosted by the business.

Staff commuting

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

Purchased Goods

We’re talking IT equipment like new staff laptops, printers, screens, work phones, desk phones and TV screens. As well as Marketing materials like merchandise, brochures, and things like event posters and banners etc.

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 were calculated for:

• 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 easier.

We do not arrange or provide transportation for customers traveling 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 traveled by air to reach the starting point of a trip, that flight was outside the scope of our calculation.

eCollective has also shared guidance on how to choose lower-carbon flights, which may be a useful resource.

How did we rate our trip’s carbon score?

Each of our trips was given a score based on the estimated average amount of CO2e associated with the elements of that trip included in our assessment, per person, 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 score a trip can have and where we’re working on getting as many of our trips as possible to achieve this level. All trips within this category leave a very small footprint on the planet.

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

41 - 60kg = Good Footprint (1 leaf) - while our self-guided trips are naturally a low-impact way to travel, those with this score 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 carbon score was 17 kg CO2e per person, per night, based on the trips included in the assessment.

You may notice that some of our trips were not given a score. This was because the trip was new and a calculation had not yet been completed, or because the trip required additional information before a calculation could be finalized.

We want to be transparent about the limitations of this assessment. Some trip scores were based on informed estimates where detailed data was not available, so the figures should not be considered 100% precise. The assessment was a learning process that helped us better understand the emissions associated with the activities within its scope.

Importantly, these scores relate to the assessment carried out in 2024 using our 2022 trip offerings and the data and methodology available at that time. They should not be interpreted as current measurements of the emissions associated with our trips.

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 commitment to travel we believe in and our approach.