About
Speakers
Partners
About
Speakers
Partners

Our approach

Our approach

Measure

We calculate our event footprint annually with Synergy Enterprises, a trusted third-party partner, and publish the results for full transparency.

Reduce

We integrate low-impact event planning into every stage to prioritize cutting emissions at the source, from speaker selection to vendor relationships.

Offset

We offset what we can’t reduce. Previous event footprints have been fully offset through the Great Bear Forest Carbon Project.

Report

Each year we share year-over-year comparisons, provide context behind the numbers, and outline how we plan to improve next year.

Emissions at a glance

Total emissions: 9.61 tCO2e
Per guest: ~0.01 tCO2e

Breakdown:

  • Travel: 8.48 tCO2e
  • Venue: 0.06 tCO2e
  • Food: 1.05 tCO2e
  • Accommodation: 0.03 tCO2e


Status: Carbon neutral

Sources:

Total emissions: 75.11 tCO2e
Per guest: ~0.11 tCO2e

Breakdown:

  • Travel: 74.11 tCO2e
  • Venue: 0.15 tCO2e
  • Food: 0.44 tCO2e
  • Accommodation: 0.26 tCO2e


Status: Carbon neutral

Sources:

Why the increase in emissions?

  • More long-distance travel: in 2025, we welcomed more out-of-town speakers and attendees, which significantly increased emissions from flights and other travel.
  • Improved methodology: we calculated travel as round-trip for each attendee to provide a more robust estimate.
  • Travel dominates: because of the additional long-distance travel, about 98% of the 2025 footprint comes from travel alone, while emissions from the venue, food, and accommodation remained relatively small.
  • Context: large events that draw participants beyond the local community often see travel-related emissions outweigh all other sources combined.

Planning with purpose

Reducing waste

Working together with our vendors, we ensure low-carbon local menus, right-size portions, donate surplus food when we can, and compost leftovers. We prioritize compostable materials over single-use plastics wherever possible. Our aim is to move toward more reusable options as we grow our network of aligned vendors.

Thoughtful marketing

We opt for durable, reusable signage wherever we can, exploring recycled paper with low-impact inks. Our printed materials are intentionally minimal, with all information available digitally. We’ve chosen not to produce event swag, keeping only essentials like lanyards and versatile stickers that can be reused across events.

Connecting with likeminded partners

Our relationships with local vendors are very important to us. Everything from food and outdoor vendors to practical gifts for speakers aligns with our sustainability goals.

Continuous improvement:

Each year we review what’s working, share learnings with partners, and set new goals to further reduce waste and emissions as our approach evolves.

We couldn't have done it without you

The TEDxVictoria community cares a lot about building a better future — from introducing us to incredible partners and putting your hand up to volunteer, to opting into our lanyard recovery program. Did we mention we recovered 545 lanyards — nearly 80% — helping redirect over $1,000 to local charities in 2025?

These milestones reflect the power of small, collective actions. We’re grateful to our attendees, volunteers, and partners for helping make each year more sustainable, and we’re excited to keep building on this momentum for an even brighter future.