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Most advice on sustainable stands stops at reusable materials. Here is how to measure a stand’s real footprint, and turn it into something clients can see.
Search for a sustainable exhibition stand and you will find plenty of advice on reusable materials, modular builds and recycled signage. All useful. But it skips the harder, more valuable step: actually measuring your stand’s footprint, and reporting it in a way that stands up to scrutiny.
The materials of the stand itself are the visible part, but they are rarely the biggest contributor. Across the exhibition industry, the largest share of emissions comes from things that happen around the stand rather than the structure:
Understanding this order matters, because it tells you where to focus. A beautifully recycled stand that flew halfway around the world has not solved its biggest problem.
The principle sounds straightforward: gather activity data, then apply recognised emission factors. In plain terms, you record how much of each thing happened (kilometres travelled, kilowatt-hours used, kilograms shipped), and apply a factor that converts it into carbon. In practice it is anything but trivial: sourcing accurate activity data, choosing the right factors, and accounting for the parts exhibitors routinely miss (travel above all) is exactly where a credible number is won or lost. It is why many exhibitors underestimate their true footprint, and why the methodology behind the figure matters as much as the figure itself.
This is where the right tool earns its place. One Tribe’s calculator, developed with our carbon accounting partners Tunley Environmental, does exactly this on recognised methodology: it applies ISO and GHG Protocol emission factors to your stand’s activity data, travel and freight included, so the result is defensible rather than a guess. Tunley are carbon consultants, so the methodology behind the number is one you can stand behind when a client, or a regulator, asks how you worked it out.
Measurement is only the beggining. A footprint figure sitting in a spreadsheet does nothing for your brand or your client relationships. The exhibitors getting the most from this turn the number into something visible: a shareable record, or a live display at the stand itself, that lets visitors and clients see the impact and the effort behind it.
This is increasingly what corporate exhibitors are expected to provide. Reporting frameworks now want specifics from vendors, not general assurances, and a measured, shareable footprint is exactly the kind of documentation that satisfies them. It also turns a compliance task into a marketing asset: proof, on display, that you take this seriously.
Reusable materials are a good start, but they are the easy part. Measure the whole footprint, travel and freight included, be honest about where the emissions really sit, and turn the result into something you can share. That combination, measurement plus visibility, is what separates a genuinely sustainable exhibitor from one with a nice-looking stand.
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One Tribe is a Climate Action Platform enabling businesses and their customers to make a positive environmental impact.
Eric currently works as an independent consultant at the intersection of nature and climate, focused on catalysing market and non-market solutions to drive the just transition.
He previously was Head of Product at Earthshot Labs, supporting nature conservation and restoration projects across the global south secure project finance. Prior to Earthshot Labs, Eric led nature-based carbon project development for Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique and founded the Carbon Cooperative, a global alliance of leading nature conservation and restoration practitioners exploring carbon finance. After serving in the Peace Corps in Mozambique out of university, he spent much of his 20s working in community-based conservation and ecosystem restoration efforts in Sub-Saharan Africa interspersed with two startup ventures as co-founder and CEO of a mental health tech startup and COO of a sustainable coffee company. Eric has a dual Masters in Environmental Engineering and Environmental Policy from Stanford University where he was a NSF Graduate Research Fellow and a BS in Environmental Engineering from Tufts University.
Alan is a risk management thought-leader, superconnector, and FinTech pioneer. His mission is to enable an Earth Positive economy which includes nature in global accounting systems.
Alan is Founder of Generation Blue, a venture studio dedicated to planetary game changers powered by exponential technologies. Previously, Alan established Natural Capital Markets at Lykke AG, pioneering blockchain based forestry and carbon backed tokens. Alan has over two decades of risk management experience advising global financial institutions, and was a founding member of the RiskMetrics Group, a JPMorgan spin-off. Alan is an investor and advisor to regenerative impact ventures, including TreeBuddy.Earth, Regenativ, and Vlinder Climate.
Lori Whitecalf made history when she became the first woman to be elected Chief of Sweetgrass First Nation in 2011. She served three terms of office from 2011-2017.
Lori took a two-year hiatus from leadership to expand the family ranch and serve as the FSIN Senior Industry Liaison. She was re-elected on November 29. 2019 and again on November 30, 2021, as Chief of Sweetgrass. Chief Whitecalf practises a traditional lifestyle of hunting, fishing and gathering. She currently sits on the following boards: Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technology, FSIN Lands and Resource Commission, Battle River Treaty 6 Health Centre and Battleford Agency Tribal Chiefs Executive Council, FSIN Women’s Commission.
Tina is the Chief Business Officer for MLTC Industrial Investments, the Economic Development arm of the Meadow Lake Tribal Council. She has a diverse background of experience. Having spent 15 years as a municipal Chief Operating Officer, 20 years involved in Saskatchewan’s Health Authority Board Keewatin Yatthe and 9 years with Northern Lights Board of Education.
She continues as a Board Member with Beaver River Community Futures supporting small business development in her home region. Tina brings a wealth of experience in a variety of fields and many connections to the Indigenous communities of Northern Saskatchewan. In addition Tina holds a BA Advanced from the U of S, a Certificate in Local Government Authority from the U of R and is certified as a Professional Economic Developer for Saskatchewan and a certified Technician Aboriginal Economic Developer (TAED).
Tootoosis’ career spans 40+ years in HRM, political leadership, and Indigenous economic development, as a dedicated bridge builder and advocate for Indigenous causes.
As a key member of the Saskatoon Regional Economic Development Authority (SREDA) team since 2021, he develops strategies for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission final report and Call to Action #92.
He is a graduate of the First Nations University of Canada and a certified Professional Aboriginal Economic Developer. Spearheading various community initiatives while serving as a Chair of the SIEDN while directing ILDII and WIBF. Founder of MGT Consulting Tootoosis is based in Saskatoon, Treaty Six Territory.
Cy Standing (Wakanya Najin in Dakota) has a long and distinguished career including serving overseas as an Electronics Technician in the Royal Canadian Air Force, former Chief of Wahpeton Dakota Nation, former Vice Chief of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indigenous Nations (FSIN), past Executive Director of Community Development Branch of the Department of Northern Saskatchewan as well as an Order in Council appointment to the Federal Parole Board.
Mr. Standing has served as a Director on many Profit and Non-Profit Corporate Boards, including serving as a Director for Affinity Credit Union with assets of over six billion dollars as well as IMI Brokerage and Wanuskewin and is currently a member of the One Tribe Indigenous Carbon Board.