Making our Mark...

Sourcemap is a ground-breaking web site that provides business owners with a means to diagnose and market their supply chain and carbon footprint. It is the first of its kind, offering a free and open collection of tools to share the ethos behind sourcing and business practices. The website guides users through the process of designing an interactive supply chain map and carbon footprint calculation to be embedded on external sites and social networks. As part of our first pilot study, we are working with progressive small companies concerned with supporting their local communities and the environment. Through this study, Sourcemap is being refined for ease of use by decision makers in hospitality, food and drink, and craft industries.

The Lovat, Loch Ness is an independent eco-conscious hotel overlooking the natural beauty of Loch Ness and its surroundings. Managing Partner Caroline Gregory operates the hotel and restaurant with an underlying respect for the environment and surrounding region, as evidenced by a seasonal and locally-sourced menu, eco-conscious appliances and design, and ambitious initiatives to reduce the overall environmental impact. She is accounting for the emissions incurred by her guests' travel to the hotel in an effort to offer a carbon-neutral destination.

Caroline inspired the application of Sourcemap to travel and hospitality businesses. Her meticulous accounting for the energy use of the hotel and the carbon footprint of her guests is driven by a respect for the regional and global environment, part of an ethos she shares on her website. When presented with Sourcemap, she proposed to map her yearly guests' journeys to the hotel and include the map on her site to reassure future guests that their travel footprint was being accounted for. This is part of a pragmatic approach that makes it possible for clients to find out for themselves and learn about those aspects of the business that interest them. We look forward to adding features to this site so that she can share more of the careful decisions that make the Lovat Arms innovative and successful.

Leonardo Bonannicarolin
amerigo@media.mit.edu
PhD Candidate, MIT Media Lab
Director, Sourcemap.org

BBC report
HIE report