The CliNeDest pilot programme helps Örreke make sustainable choices measurable

Many small tourism and experiential service providers have operated sustainably for years, but often lack an overview of how to measure the impact of their activities and communicate it to customers. Örreke joined the CliNeDest pilot programme to make its existing responsible practices more systematic and measurable.

Company: Örreke
Sector: Creative workshops, experiential services and corporate events
Size: Family business; one core employee manages Örreke’s daily operations, with a network of instructors brought in as needed
Location: Tallinn, Estonia

Whenever possible, the company uses production offcuts and recycled materials in its nearly 50 handicraft and creative workshops. Leather industry offcuts are given a new life in leather projects, while mosaic workshops use fragments from the glass industry that might otherwise become waste.

According to Örreke’s owner and trainer, Kadrin Pintson, responsible thinking had been part of the company’s operations from the very beginning, but its impact had not previously been measured or documented.

“We have tried to operate responsibly from the outset, but we had never recorded or measured the footprint of our activities. CliNeDest created the need to examine our materials, quantities and supply chains much more closely.”

The first result was a materials database

For Örreke, the main result of the pilot programme so far is not a completed carbon footprint calculation, but the foundation that will make such measurement possible. During the programme, Pintson began creating a centralised database of the materials used in the workshops. It brings together information about the materials, their origins, quantities, suppliers and use across different workshops.

Previously, the necessary information had to be found among invoices, emails and earlier orders. The data is now being consolidated into a single system, which Örreke intends to use to measure the footprint of up to 15 of its most popular workshops and make the results available to customers and partners.
“You cannot measure a footprint without baseline data. First, I need to know how much of each material I use in a workshop, where it comes from and what its origin is.”

AI as a practical assistant for a small business owner

During CliNeDest, participants were introduced to tools and methodologies for assessing climate impact. According to Pintson, several of them initially seemed too extensive and demanding for a small business.

The AI prompts shared through the programme proved to be a practical source of support. They helped Pintson determine which data needed to be collected and how to build a system suited to Örreke’s needs.

“In a small business, I do not have a department or a colleague with whom I can discuss these questions. AI was like a co-worker I could ask for advice and who helped me build my system step by step,” Kadrin said.

Artificial intelligence did not perform the calculations on the company’s behalf, but it helped adapt the extensive methodology to Örreke’s needs and create a simpler spreadsheet that the small business could manage using its existing resources.

When sustainability involves difficult choices

Mapping the materials also highlighted questions that do not always have a single correct answer. For example, Örreke uses shea butter sourced through the NGO Mondo in its home spa workshop. The shea butter comes from a community in Ghana, where its production supports local women’s entrepreneurship and fair pay. At the same time, the long transport distance results in a larger carbon footprint, and the shea butter cannot simply be replaced with a local ingredient in the recipe.

The lowest CO₂ figure may not, therefore, always represent the most responsible overall solution. Alongside environmental impact, social impact, material quality and suitability for the service must also be considered.

The calculation of Örreke’s footprint is still in progress, so its main sources of emissions have not yet been conclusively ranked. However, the mapping completed so far indicates that the transportation of materials is one of the most significant areas of impact, particularly for raw materials that cannot be sourced in Estonia.
Limited supply-chain transparency and cost also make these choices more difficult. Even when a product is purchased from a European supplier, it may not be possible to verify where the material was actually produced. Örreke’s services have also sometimes been more expensive because of the use of local or higher-quality materials, and even environmentally conscious customers may ultimately choose a cheaper service.

To reduce its impact, Örreke intends to continue consolidating orders, comparing suppliers and the origins of materials, and prioritising local, recycled or production-offcut materials whenever possible.

Data helps explain and justify choices

When a company can demonstrate which materials it uses, where they come from and what impact is associated with those choices, customers can make more informed decisions and the company can better explain the reasoning behind its choices.

This may also be important for clients in the tourism and events sectors who want to understand the environmental impact of the services they purchase. However, it is not yet clear to what extent customers will consider measurement results alongside price.

For Örreke, measuring its footprint is therefore not merely a marketing tool. The data helps the company assess its material choices, ask suppliers more precise questions and explain to customers why one material or service may be more expensive than another.

What has CliNeDest given Örreke so far?

As a result of CliNeDest, Örreke began creating a materials database, gained an overview of the available approaches to climate-impact assessment and, with the help of AI, found a way to adapt complex tools to the resources of a small business.

Pintson particularly recommends the programme to small tourism and experiential service providers that cannot afford to outsource climate-impact assessment. She notes that extensive spreadsheets may appear intimidating at first, but businesses can begin with a single service or category of materials.

Örreke’s next goal is to complete the mapping of materials used in selected workshops, calculate their footprint and share the results with customers and partners.
Örreke’s experience may encourage other small tourism and experiential service providers in Tallinn to begin assessing their climate impact through practical and manageable steps. In the longer term, this could increase the transparency of Tallinn’s tourism offering and support more informed choices.