How it works

1. Measuring your website's emissions

We use advanced tools to calculate how much CO2 your website produces when people visit it. This includes everything from data transfer to server energy use - just like measuring a car's fuel consumption.

2. Understanding your traffic

We look at how many people visit your website over three months and how they use it. This helps us get a complete picture of your website's total environmental impact.

3. Creating a yearly estimate

We combine your website's CO2 output with your traffic patterns to calculate your yearly carbon footprint. We add extra margin to ensure we're fully covering your website's impact.

4. Offsetting through forest growth

We partner with Trefadder, Norway's leading climate forest initiative, to offset your emissions. They plant and maintain trees specifically chosen for maximum CO2 capture. The trees are legally protected for their entire lifespan, ensuring your offset is secure for decades to come.

Our guarantee

We include safety margins at every step to ensure your website's emissions are fully offset. Whether some trees grow slower than expected or your website gets more traffic, you can be confident your digital footprint is truly carbon neutral.

While calculating a website's exact carbon footprint is complex, we use industry-standard methods and add generous safety margins to ensure reliable offsetting. Here's how we handle accuracy:

• We use the Website Carbon Calculator, a trusted tool in the industry, to measure your website's basic emissions
• We look at three months of traffic data to account for normal visitor fluctuations
• We add extra margin to our traffic estimates to cover unexpected spikes in visitors
• We include additional safety padding in our final calculations to ensure we're never under-offsetting
• Our partner Trefadder adds their own safety margin when planting trees to account for natural variables in forest growth

Think of it like buying a slightly bigger jacket for a growing child - we'd rather offset a bit too much than too little. This way, even with the natural uncertainties in both web traffic and forest growth, you can be confident your website's carbon footprint is fully compensated.

Don't worry - we've got you covered! We build in a significant margin of error in our calculations to handle normal traffic fluctuations. When it's time to renew your certificate, we'll automatically re-analyze your website's traffic and carbon footprint using the most recent data. This means your next offset will be based on your actual growth, ensuring you stay fully carbon neutral. It's like having an adjustable plan that grows with your success.

We're currently working on an exciting new feature that will integrate directly with Trefadder's planting database and map, allowing you to see exactly where your trees are planted and track their growth. We expect this feature to be available later in 2025.

In the meantime, if you need verification documentation for your offset, simply email us at contact@zerobadge.com, and we'll provide you with the complete documentation showing how your website's emissions are being offset through Trefadder's climate forest projects in Norway.

Each offset is legally protected and maintained for decades to come, ensuring long-term carbon capture.

Planting climate forests in Norway offers several unique benefits that make your carbon offset more secure and effective:

• Strong Legal Protection: Norway is one of the world's most politically stable countries with strict environmental regulations, ensuring your trees are protected for generations to come.
• Perfect Growing Conditions: Western Norway's climate is ideal for forest growth, especially along the coast where there's available land and optimal conditions for carbon capture.
• Full Transparency: Unlike distant offset projects, these forests are:
• • Located in a corruption-free country
  • Managed by local farmers with long traditions of forest stewardship
  • Open for you to visit and see your impact firsthand
• Scientific Backing: Norwegian climate forests are thoroughly researched through government-funded projects, with documented carbon capture effects and environmental benefits.

Rather than counting individual trees, we use a scientific approach based on total carbon capture that's verified by Norwegian research. According to studies by the Norwegian Environment Agency (Miljødirektoratet), NIBIO, and NMBU, climate forests in Norway capture approximately 60 tons of carbon per dekar (1000m²).

Trefadder's climate forests are carefully designed to maximize this CO2 absorption over time, considering factors like:

• Tree species selection
• Optimal planting density
• Local growing conditions
• Long-term forest management

Each forest area is calculated to capture a specific amount of CO2 over its lifetime, and we ensure your website's emissions are fully offset with a safety margin included. This scientific approach, backed by Norwegian research institutions, is more reliable than simple tree counting, as it focuses on actual carbon capture results.

Website emissions typically fall under Scope 3 of the GHG Protocol emissions framework, which covers indirect emissions in a company's value chain. Digital infrastructure like websites and online services create carbon emissions through data centers, network infrastructure, and device energy use.

ZeroBadge makes it simple to address this often-overlooked aspect of your Scope 3 emissions. By calculating and offsetting your website's carbon footprint, you're taking measurable action on a specific element of your digital value chain.

For companies already tracking Scope 1 (direct emissions) and Scope 2 (purchased electricity), adding ZeroBadge to your sustainability strategy provides a comprehensive approach to emissions management. Our detailed certificates can be included in your sustainability reporting, demonstrating your commitment to addressing emissions across all scopes.

Many of our clients appreciate that ZeroBadge offers an immediate way to address Scope 3 digital emissions while they work on longer-term reduction strategies for other emission sources.

Yes, ZeroBadge's methodology for calculating website carbon emissions is designed to be compatible with GHG Protocol reporting standards. We use a transparent calculation approach that measures data transfer, energy intensity, and carbon factors—essential components for accurate emissions reporting.

The GHG Protocol is the world's most widely used greenhouse gas accounting standard, and companies using ZeroBadge can confidently include our carbon offset certificates in their sustainability reporting. Our calculation factors are regularly updated to reflect current research on digital carbon emissions, ensuring your reporting remains accurate and credible.

For organizations already following GHG Protocol guidelines, ZeroBadge provides the documentation needed to properly account for your website's emissions reduction efforts. Our detailed certificates specify the exact amount of CO2 offset through our verified Norwegian forestry projects, making it simple to incorporate this data into your broader emissions reporting framework.

As sustainability reporting requirements continue to evolve, ZeroBadge remains committed to maintaining alignment with international standards like the GHG Protocol to support your organization's environmental accountability goals.