A food waste company calculated its own footprint, and its handprint

ResQ Club is a Finnish service that connects consumers and restaurants, and rescues food waste. The company’s business model is itself an environmental act: every rescued meal is emissions that don’t happen. Despite this, ResQ Club wanted to know their own operational footprint too.

Starting point

At ResQ Club, sustainability is central to the business, not an add-on. The company wanted both to measure their own operational emissions and to be able to communicate to their users how much good their food rescuing does for the climate.

The task was two-sided: traditional organisational carbon accounting plus a carbon handprint calculation: a measurement of positive climate impact.

What was done

NGS calculated ResQ Club’s GHG Protocol organisational carbon footprint Scope 1–3. In addition, the project included a carbon handprint calculation: a quantification of how much the food rescued through ResQ Club reduces greenhouse gas emissions compared to that food being thrown away.

The accounting was built into a quarterly tracking model, which enables systematic monitoring of trends and changes. This means emissions data doesn’t remain a one-off, but integrates into the company’s ongoing reporting.

Result

ResQ Club can now communicate both their own footprint and their customers’ positive climate impact transparently and with substantiation. Quarterly tracking keeps data up to date and supports reporting on progress toward sustainability goals.