What we’ve done so far

We’re committed to our ongoing plans to become more environmentally sustainable - but protecting the environment has always been important to us.

As part of our programme, girls can earn interest badges to explore how they can help the environment, such as recycling for Rainbows, zero waste for Brownies, and upcycling for Guides.

Our members have already been doing lots of brilliant things to tackle environmental issues. Here are some of the great things we’ve achieved by working together in the last few years, divided into our 4 areas of focus.

1) Building awareness and knowledge about sustainability

• We’ve established a staff network focused on the environment to open conversations and ideas within the organisation about how we can become more sustainable.
• We’ve organised 2 annual environmentally-focused days for Girlguiding staff, as part of their yearly volunteering allowance.
• We’ve recruited a sustainability manager and lead volunteer for environmental sustainability, so we have the right people in place to put our sustainability plans into action.

2) Encouraging sustainable guiding

• We launched our new Eco award on Earth Day 2025, encouraging girls to become more sustainable and make a difference in their local communities.
• We’ve created new resources and guidance to help volunteers become more sustainable in guiding, including a travel smart carbon checklist and guidance on local fundraising for environmental projects.
• We’ve received funding of £50k from The Leslie Sell Charitable Trust to support the Eco award and other strategies for more sustainable guiding. We’ve also confirmed the next £50k.

3) Inspiring and driving change in wider society

• We launched #PlasticPromise, the biggest ever girl-led campaign to tackle plastic pollution. Rainbows, Brownies, Guides and Rangers across the UK asked friends, family, politicians and the public to join them in making simple but meaningful lifestyle changes to reduce single-use plastic.
• We’ve launched our Environment Leaders Programme pilot with 5 units across the UK. Girls in these units will complete a Level 2 Qualification in Leadership Skills, facilitated by the Leadership Skills Foundation (LSF). We hope to eventually offer this across the whole of Girlguiding.
• We’ve appointed influencer Laura Young (@LessWasteLaura) as our environmental ambassador.

4) Reducing our carbon footprint across Girlguiding

• We’re in the process of developing new environmentally conscious uniforms. They’ll be made using sustainable and durable fabrics, which can be recycled or reused at the end of their life.
• We switched Girlguiding magazine to be digital only, cutting down on our use of paper and helping to reduce deforestation - one of the main causes of climate change.
• We've made our unit meeting activities (UMAs) and skills builders available to download for free as PDFs, again cutting down on our use of paper.
• We've worked to reduce plastic packaging in our shops - if there's a recyclable or eco-friendly option, we'll use it.
• In 2023, we completed an LED lighting upgrade in our warehouse in Altrincham. This will save an estimated 11.26 tonnes of carbon every year.
• We’ve introduced a yearly review to identify where we can cut down on waste, increase recycling, and make sure we’re dealing with it in a sustainable way.
• Girlguiding Headquarters is now on a green electricity tariff.
• We’ve started implementing carbon reduction support for the supply chain behind Girlguiding’s shop (in other words, the network of companies and people that are involved in creating, delivering and suppling Girlguiding products).

Understanding our carbon footprint

In 2023 we looked into the carbon footprint of the entire Girlguiding movement in the UK.

We looked at office spaces, unit buildings, and guiding activity. We also looked at the carbon produced by buying and selling products from our shop.

This has given us a better understanding of our environmental impact and how we might reduce it over the next few years.

We’ve calculated a total carbon footprint of 14,340 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalents per year. This means we’ve calculated the amount of all the greenhouse gases produced if they were converted into carbon dioxide.

Our total carbon footprint is divided into 3 scopes:

• Scope 1: Emissions that come directly from Girlguiding. A small amount (7%) of our emissions come from how buildings across Girlguiding are heated. These emissions can be reduced by moving away from gas boilers and making our buildings as energy efficient as possible.
• Scope 2: Emissions made indirectly by Girlguiding, like the electricity being produced for us. An even smaller amount (4%) of our emissions come from how our buildings’ electricity is made. Buildings that have Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGO)-backed energy tariffs use energy from renewable sources, and don’t have carbon emissions.
• Scope 3: Emissions from the outside activities and suppliers that make Girlguiding happen. This makes up the largest part of our footprint. It includes how we make and ship our uniforms and shop products. It also includes materials we buy, print and use for promoting Girlguiding and in unit meetings. Travel to and from unit meetings, residentials and events also falls under this scope. These emissions are the most challenging for all of us to reduce. This is because many of them are generated through outside suppliers and are necessary activities that make guiding happen.

Activity related to our shop produces about 17% of scope 3 emissions (2,136 tonnes of CO2 equivalents per year). We’re redesigning our uniform to be more sustainable and reviewing how we buy from and work with suppliers.

As we get better at measuring and monitoring our carbon emissions, we’ll also get better at understanding what we can do to reduce our impact on the environment.