# How can a self-help group work out the carbon footprint of its products?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/self-help-group-product-carbon-footprint

Keep it simple and record-based. Note the fuel, electricity and main materials used for a batch, divide by the units made, and apply standard factors. A buyer or support agency can help with factors; the group's job is accurate records of what went into each batch.

## Batch record

- Date and products made, with count or weight.
- Firewood, LPG or electricity used.
- Main materials bought, with quantity.

## Turn it into a figure

Multiply each quantity by its factor, add them, and divide by units made. Keep the records so the figure can be checked.

## What Senseible does here

Senseible reads supplier invoices into dated records with the quantity, unit and factor on each line, and marks lines without a usable quantity as needing data instead of guessing.

- [FPO crop footprint for a buyer](https://senseible.earth/answers/fpo-crop-carbon-footprint-for-buyer)
- [Merchant exporter footprint](https://senseible.earth/answers/merchant-exporter-carbon-footprint-without-factory)

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

Last reviewed 2026-10-23.