Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez are getting married in Venice, Italy this week. The billionaire couple invited countless Hollywood stars to celebrate their nuptials. Everyone from the Kardashian family – Kim, Kris, Khloe, Kylie, and Kendall – to Leonardo Di Caprio and his girlfriend Vittoria Ceretti are in attendance.
While all those celebrities are traveling across the world to celebrate Bezos and Sánchez, they are also emitting a lot of carbon emissions. But just how much? We asked ChatGPT just that.
I know, it's a bit hypocritical for us to use the AI search engine. ChatGPT takes much more energy, some ten times more, than a simple Google search. It emits 260,930 kilograms of carbon dioxide each month, which is equivalent to 260 flights between New York and London. Fully acknowledging that, it was the quickest way for us to calculate the carbon footprint of this wedding.
© AFP via Getty ImagesWith 200 guests headed to Venice, it's estimated that 90 to 96 private jets have been used in travel. We know that private jets emit more carbon than commuter planes. A typical private jet emits about two tonnes of carbon dioxide for every hour of a flight. If each flight averaged just four hours, that emits roughly eight tonnes per round-trip flight.
Plus, Jeff is known to enjoy his yachts, which emit significant CO₂. Jeff's superyacht emits 7,000 tonnes of CO₂ in just a year.
It's estimated that the lowest possible amount of carbon emitted from the Bezos wedding is 1,000 tonnes.
© AFP via Getty ImagesWhat is the carbon footprint of typical weddings?
Thousands of couples get married every year, but very few have the majority of their guests arriving via private jets. Even so, weddings take a lot of manpower and emit a lot more carbon than a regular weekend trip with friends.
A typical wedding in the United States emits an average "56 tons," according to Stanford Magazine. Guest travel is of course the highest contributor.
This means that Jeff and Lauren's wedding is about 17.5 times higher than the typical wedding.
© Geoff Pugh/ShutterstockThe carbon footprint of Jeff and his guests
The world's richest emit more carbon than the rest of the population. Jeff and his wedding guest, Bill Gates, are two of the top three carbon emitters on earth. While they continue to travel privately, enjoy their superyachts, and live in sprawling mansions, Jeff and Bill commit financially to the fight against climate change.
According to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: "Bill will continue to invest billions of his own resources into clean energy and climate change innovations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help make these technologies more affordable. Additionally, any returns on these investments will go back into fighting climate change and supporting the Foundation to help as many people as possible around the world."
© GettyJeff's bride is the vice chair of the Bezos Earth Fund. According to the fund's website, Lauren is "dedicated to fighting climate change and the protection of nature." Last year, Lauren won the Global Visionary Award from Conservation International, which recognized the couple's "unwavering dedication to addressing the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss."
As the wedding weekend kicks off, their guests should be sure to take in if celebrating Jeff and Lauren is worth the footprint.
