Carbon Footprint Toolkit - Digital Preservation Coalition

The Carbon Footprint Toolkit has been developed to support organizations undertaking digital preservation to understand, measure, and reduce the carbon footprint of their activities in a practical and proportionate way. It responds to growing interest within the digital preservation community for clear, actionable guidance that can be applied across a wide range of organizational contexts, technical infrastructures, and levels of experience with environmental reporting.

This toolkit was created by the DPC’s Carbon Footprint Task Force and was published in September 2026 after a period of community comment and testing. This testing was carried out by the Carbon Calculation Support Group, who also developed a series of case studies to sit alongside the toolkit.

The toolkit consists of a wealth of advice and guidance and an Excel spreadsheet tool which can be used to calculate and report on the carbon footprint of a range of digital preservation activities.

Browse the sections below to access the advice and guidance. The Carbon Footprint Calculation Tool, and tips on how to use it, can be found in the 'Calculating your carbon footprint section'. The spreadsheet can also be downloaded below:

Carbon Footprint Calculation Tool - Excel spreadsheet (current version v1.0)

	Introduction An introduction to the toolkit and summary of what it contains. Use this to find out why the toolkit was created and what it can be used for.
	Getting organizational buy-in How to start a conversation with colleagues on this complex topic. Use this to pick up practical tips and helpful resources.
	Getting started Consider the scope and goals of your carbon calculation and map out your digital preservation activities. Use this to find practical advice on how and where to start.
	Calculating your carbon footprint Discover our spreadsheet tool to help calculate the carbon footprint of your digital preservation activities. Use this to download the Carbon Footprint Calculation Tool and find out how to use it.
	How to reduce your carbon footprint Discover some of the strategies you might employ to reduce your environmental impact. Use this to find tips on how to reduce the carbon footprint of your digital preservation activities.
	How digital and physical preservation compare Read about how the carbon footprint of digital and physical preservation activities compare. Use this to understand the similarities and the differences between the carbon footprint of digital and physical preservation activities.
	Myths and Legends Learn to recognise and understand some of the misinformation about the carbon footprint of digital preservation that you may encounter. Use this to separate the myths from the reality.
	Case studies Read a selection of case studies created during the community testing phase of this toolkit. Use this to find out how other community members made progress with the Carbon Footprint Toolkit.
	Additional resources A helpful starting point for further research on the environmental impact of digital preservation. Use this to find further reading on this topic.

Suggested citation of current version	Digital Preservation Coalition (2026). Carbon Footprint Toolkit. [http://doi.org/10.7207/carbonfootprinttoolkit26-01]
Last updated	September 2026
Date of next planned review	2027

This toolkit was created by the Carbon Footprint Task Force, chaired by Alicia Wise. It was published in September 2026. Thank you to all of those who were involved! Read more and find out about how the toolkit was created here.

This toolkit will evolve based on advances in knowledge and learning from experiences. We welcome any feedback that will help improve this toolkit. Do contact us with comments and suggestions at infoATdpconlineDOTorg