Our Eco-Score

In the interests of transparency, we assign an environmental rating to each of our Discoverent shipments. These ratings are based on the overall carbon footprint, calculated per person per day.

To guarantee the accuracy of our results, we rely on the Base Carbone®, a public database administered by ADEME (French Agency for Ecological Transition).

Including transport

Although transport costs are the responsibility of our customers, we include travel to and from the meeting point, as well as transfers during the stay, in our calculation. This decision stems from the fact that transport is the main contributor to the carbon footprint of a holiday, justifying its inclusion to obtain a complete and representative assessment.

Calculation details

🚗 Car : For journeys of less than 1200 km, we take into account return journeys by carpooling. We use an average of three people per vehicle (DiscoveRent average), with an emission factor of 0.077 kg CO₂e/peq.km¹.

✈️ Plane: For journeys of more than 1,200 km, trips are considered by plane, with an emission factor of 0.336 kg eq. CO₂e/peq.km¹.

🚂 Train: We never consider return journeys by train to the place of dispatch, due to the uncertainty as to the use of this means of transport by our customers.

Therefore, even if the passenger travels by train to the shipment , the journey will be calculated as if it were a car journey. This ensures a prudent and conservative assessment to avoid underestimating the carbon footprint of each journey.

Accommodation

We offer three categories of accommodation: gites, refuges and bivouacs. Our approach is to calculate the average emissions per person for the whole stay, according to the type of accommodation.

🏠 Gîtes: The carbon footprint associated with the accommodation of a French resident is on average 2.705 tonnes CO₂ eq. per year. Extrapolating this value to the day and integrating the "energy and utilities" aspects - which include greenhouse gas emissions from the use of various energy sources in the accommodation, such as gas and electricity, as well as heat and water networks - the carbon footprint comes to 4.64 kg CO₂ eq. per day.

🏔️ Refuges: These establishments stand out for their low energy consumption, mainly favouring the use of renewable energy sources. For guarded refuges, the emission factor defined is set at half that applied to gites.

⛺️ Bivouac: Finally, nights under the stars, whether in a bivouac or an unguarded refuge, are counted with a zero carbon footprint.

Food

As far as meals are concerned, we are taking into account three omnivorous meals per person per day. Based on ADEME data, the associated emission factor is 2.04 kg CO₂ eq. per meal.

Waste

According to belgium.be, each individual produces around 1 kg of household waste every day. We have therefore used the assumption that each participant generates 1 kg of waste per day to calculate the carbon footprint of waste during an expedition. Incinerating 1 kg of waste represents 0.344 kgCO₂e/kg².

Eco-score classification

How do we rate shipments according to their eco-score, scored on a scale of 1 (high carbon footprint/person/day) to 5 (low carbon footprint/person/day)?

Here's our simplified scale:

🟢 5/5 : Footprint less than or equal to 15 kg CO₂e/person/day.

🟢 4/5 : Footprint greater than 15 and less than or equal to 50 kg CO₂e/person/day.

🟡 3/5 : Footprint greater than 50 and less than or equal to 100 kg CO₂e/person/day.

🟠 2/5 : Footprint greater than 100 and less than or equal to 250 kg CO₂e/person/day.

🔴 1/5 : Footprint greater than 250 kg CO₂e/person/day.

This classification makes understanding the environmental impact of each expedition more accessible, encouraging more sustainable travel choices.