The Math
This climate + package assumes a wedding with 100 guests, their
accommodation and travel, an amazing venue, flowers, great food and of
course wine and booze.
| Food |
0.9 MT CO2 |
| Wine |
0.1024 MT CO2 |
| Hard Alcohol |
0.03075 MT CO2 |
| Venue |
0.074 MT CO2 |
| Flowers |
2.91666 MT CO2 |
| Lodging |
3.255 MT CO2 |
| Driving |
1.506 MT CO2 |
| Flights |
18.975 MT CO2 |
| Total |
27.7594 MT CO2 |
Food
The greenhouse gas emissions of a prime meat meal is 9kg of CO2 per
meal.This means for the wedding dinner there would be 900kg of CO2
emissions.
9kg CO2 x 100 guests = 900kg CO2 equivalent
In order to convert 900 kg CO2 into metric tons CO2 we use the conversion
factor 0.001 and get 0.9 MT CO2
900kg CO2 x 0.001 = 0.9MT CO2
Wine
The carbon emissions of wine are 1.28kg CO2 per bottle. Assuming we need
about 80 bottles of wine for 100 guests
1.28kg CO2 per bottle x 80 bottles of wine = 102.4kg CO2
In order to convert 102.4 kg CO2 into metric tons CO2 we use the
conversion factor 0.001 and get 0.1024 MT CO2
102.4kg CO2 x 0.001 = 0.1024 MT CO2
Hard Alcohol
Every shot of hard alcohol emits 123 grams CO2. Assuming you would have
about 250 servings of shots for a wedding of 100 people, hard alcohol
would emit 30, 750 grams CO2.
123 grams CO2 x 250 servings = 30,750 grams CO2
In order to convert 30,750 grams of CO2 into metric tons CO2 we use the
conversion factor 0.000001 and get 0.03075 MT CO2
30,750 grams CO2 x 0.000001 = 0.03075 MT CO2
Venue
The energy for a 4,000 square foot venue for one day is equivalent to
0.074 MT CO2
Flowers
For 12,000 rose stems there is about 35,000kg CO2 released, one average a
wedding would require about 1,000 stems. If we divide 35,000kg CO2 by 12
we get the amount of CO2 from 1,000 stems.
35,000kg CO2 / 12 = 2,916.66 kg CO2 per 1,000 stems
In order to convert 2,916.66 kg CO2 into metric tons CO2 we use the
conversion factor 0.001 and get MT CO2
2,916.66 kg CO2 x 0.001 = 2.91666 MT CO2
Lodging
Of the 100 guests, 15 live in town so will not require lodging, let's
assume another 20 people have friends and have found places to stay so 65
guests require lodging. Some of these guests are families, some are
couples, so in total there will be about 35 rooms required, given that
some individuals are sharing with their spouse or family.
Hotels emit about 31kg of CO2 per room per night, assuming people are
staying in town for the wedding for 3 days they would emit 93kg for the
weekend.
31kg CO2 x 3 days = 93 kg CO2
Given that there are 35 rooms required over the weekend the emissions from
lodging would emit 3,255kg CO2
93kg CO2 x 35 rooms = 3,255 kg CO2
In order to convert 3,255 kg CO2 into metric tons CO2 we use the
conversion factor 0.001 and get 3.255 MT CO2
3,255kg CO2 x 0.001 = 3.255 MT CO2
Travel
Let’s assume an average wedding has about 100 guests, and that they live
from 0-5000 km away.
- 15 guests - in home town
- 30 guests - within 100 km
- 25 guests - 500 km away
- 20 guests - 1000 km away
- 10 guests - 5000 km away
We are not going to include the emissions from the guests within the home
town
Driving
The thirty guests that live within 100km away chose to drive to the
wedding. Between these 30 guests they drive 6,000km
100km x 30 people x 2 ways = 6,000 kilometres
The average car uses about 404 grams of CO2 per mile. To translate from
miles to kilometres, we divide miles by 1.609, and simultaneously divide
grams by 1.609. This means the average car uses about 251 grams of C02 per
kilometer.
(divide by 1.609) 1: 404grams (divide by 1.609)
0.6214: 251grams
In order to calculate the total emissions from cars to the wedding we
multiply 6,000km by 251 grams of CO2 per kilometer and get 1,506,000 grams
CO2
6,000km x 251 grams CO2 = 1,506,000 grams CO2.
In order to transfer grams of CO2 into MT of CO2 we use the conversion
factor 0.000001 and get 1.506 MT CO2.
1,506,000 grams CO2 x 0.000001 = 1.506 MT CO2
Flights
We are going to combine the total mileage flown across the world from
various guests in order to calculate the total carbon footprint of flying
Reminder:
- 25 guests - 500 km away
- 20 guests - 1000 km away
- 10 guests - 5000 km away
To do so we will multiply the amount of guests flying by the distance in
kilometres and add these numbers together. This gives us a total of 82,500
kilometres flown.
(25 x 500km) + (20 x 1000km) + (10 guests x 5000km) = 12,500km + 20,000km
+ 50,000km = 82,500 km
Since these people are flying both ways we need to multiply this number by
2.
82,500km x 2 = 165,000km
We know planes emit 115g CO2 per kilometer. We use the conversion factor
0.000001 to get from grams to metric tons and we get 0.000115 MT of CO2
per kilometer of air travel.
115grams x 0.000001 = 0.000115 MT Carbon
In order to get the total carbon emissions from this flight, we multiply
the factor 0.000115 MT CO2/km by 165,000 kilometres which equals 18.975 MT
CO2
165,000km x 0.000115 = 18.975 MT CO2
Total
Once added together the total emissions for this wedding is 27.7594 MT
0.9MT + 0.102 MT + 0.03075 MT + 0.074 MT + 2.91666 MT + 3.255 MT + 1.506
MT + 18.975 MT = 27.7594 MT CO2
