# How do we count goods we buy and donate?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/donated-goods-emissions-which-scope

Count goods you buy to donate as purchased goods, Scope 3 Category 1, in the year you buy them. If you donate your own products, their production is already in your Scope 1 and 2. Use of sold products and end of life cover sold goods, so donated items usually stay out of them.

## Examples

- Blankets bought for a relief drive: Category 1.
- Your own food products given to a food bank: production already counted.
- Transport you pay for to deliver them: Category 4.

## Disclose

If donations are large, note them so readers see why purchases rose without sales.

## What Senseible does here

Senseible keeps purchase invoices on the Scope 3 trail with the category, method and factor source on every line, so spend-based estimates are labelled as estimates and can be replaced with supplier data later.

- [Diwali gifts for customers](https://senseible.earth/answers/diwali-gifts-for-customers-scope-3)
- [Product samples to buyers](https://senseible.earth/answers/product-samples-sent-to-buyers-scope-3)

Sources: [GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard](https://ghgprotocol.org/corporate-value-chain-scope-3-standard)

Last reviewed 2026-10-22.