Buy a Carbon Offset

Carbon offsets allow individuals and businesses to participate in solutions to global warming by offsetting personal contributions to the global warming problem. You produce carbon dioxide, the principal greenhouse gas, through activities such as driving, flying, or home energy use. This contribution is called your "carbon footprint." Your first move always should be to attempt to reduce your emissions directly. However, carbon offsets can help you further reduce or even eliminate your carbon footprint by investing in projects such as wind farms.

Steps

Reducing Your Carbon Footprint Directly

1. Identify ways in which you produce carbon dioxide. You can't reduce or offset your carbon emissions if you don't know what they are or where they're coming from. Once you've identified sources of carbon dioxide production in your daily life, you can come up with ways to reduce your dependency on those sources.
   • For most people, driving is the main source of their carbon dioxide emissions. Other sources for carbon emissions include air travel and household energy consumption.
   • You also should look at the products you buy and use. If they were shipped long distances to get to you, carbon emissions were involved in their transport. Carbon emissions also occur when products are built in factories. If you buy those products, you are also contributing to carbon emissions that way.
2. Calculate your carbon footprint. Once you've made a list of all the various sources of your carbon emissions, search online for a carbon footprint calculator that you can use to get a rough estimate of the size of your carbon footprint.
   • Just do a search for "carbon footprint calculator" online, or check the website of a nonprofit environmental organization to see if there's one they recommend.
   • Since these calculators may vary in their methodologies, you may want to use more than one and average the results.
   • The more information the calculator allows you to enter, the closer to reality the estimate will be.
3. Drive less. Since driving typically makes up a large portion of your carbon footprint, one easy way to reduce your carbon dioxide emissions directly is to use your car less. Take public transportation, walk, or ride a bike when you can.
   • Try to do multiple errands at once so you take fewer trips, and start a carpool at work.
   • There are ways you can increase the fuel efficiency of your car, or you may want to consider living without a car altogether.
   • If you're in the market for a new car, you can reduce your carbon footprint by buying one that is hybrid or fully electric.
4. Save on heating and electricity in your home. The carbon dioxide produced by the electricity or other fuel that you use to light and heat your home is another big source of carbon dioxide emissions.
   • Simply lowering your thermostat a degree or two in the winter (and turning it up a degree or to in the summer) can substantially reduce your carbon dioxide emissions.
   • You also should turn off lights when you aren't in a room. Open curtains and blinds so you can use natural light rather than electricity during the day.
   • Buy energy-efficient light bulbs, which also will save you money on your electric bill and last longer than regular light bulbs. If you have the ability to do so, you also should consider replacing older appliances with newer, more energy-efficient ones.
   • If you're feeling ambitious, you can try using solar energy to heat your pool or making your own electricity.
5. Insulate and seal windows and doors. If you own your own home, getting better insulation and energy-efficient doors and windows can help you conserve electricity. Some governments also offer tax incentives for you to make these home improvements.
6. Buy locally grown foods. Transporting food grown in distant locations causes significant carbon dioxide emissions. Food prepared and processed in plants also results in the emission of a lot of carbon dioxide. Organic food grown locally will help reduce your carbon footprint as well as being more healthy for you.
   • You also can potentially save money by shopping at a local farmers' market.
7. Reduce waste at home and at work. If you want to reduce your carbon footprint and support a clean and healthy environment, avoid using disposable products that cause waste. Reuse things as much as possible, even if they were originally designed to be thrown away after one use.
   • With household items such as toilet paper that cannot effectively be reused, consider buying products that contain a large percentage of post-consumer recycled material.
   • Buy larger quantities of products to reduce the amount of packaging. Reuse containers or set up recycling for materials such as plastic, metal, and paper that can be recycled.
   • Avoid printing documents unless you absolutely need a paper copy. Sign up for electronic billing rather than receiving a paper bill in the mail. Use both sides of every sheet of paper and recycle any paper once you no longer need it, instead of throwing it in the waste bin.
   • You also might want to look into composting your organic waste such as food scraps.
8. Limit unnecessary purchases. Since producing and shipping consumer products adds to carbon emissions, limiting the new things you buy can help reduce your carbon footprint. Before you buy something, think carefully about whether you really need it.
   • Try to buy products from companies that are carbon neutral or at least strive to be environmentally responsible.
   • Buy used when you can. For example, you typically can find used books or used clothing at thrift stores that will suit your needs just as well as something new. Used items also typically are less expensive than buying something brand new.

Choosing the Appropriate Carbon Offset

1. Research how carbon offsets work. You've reduced your carbon footprint, but you can't eliminate it entirely. To become carbon neutral, you can buy carbon offsets to balance your carbon dioxide emissions.
   • With carbon offsets, your money goes to support a project happening somewhere else in the world that reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Tree planting and soil management projects actively remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, while energy efficiency projects, such as wind and solar farms, reduce overall emissions.
   • Projects are undertaken all over the planet, so you have your choice of projects to support with your carbon offset dollars. Choose a project based on your own personal interests.
2. Look for carbon offsets that are real. For a carbon offset to be effective, it has to be something that is legitimately happening in the world. If the project is not currently in existence, make an effort to understand why the project has not yet started and what barriers have prevented it from getting off the ground.
   • For example, suppose a carbon offset provider claims they are paying farmers in the Amazon not to cut down trees on their property or allow lumber companies to cut down those trees. You need to find out how many farmers are participating, how much land is involved, and how the number of offsets the company is selling are measured and allocated.
   • Since individuals typically don't have the resources to visit many of these far-flung locations in person, you typically must rely on third-party observation or reports from the carbon offset provider to determine whether their projects are legitimate.
3. Find offsets that are permanent. The project your carbon offset funds should be intended as a permanent change in the environment. The company or organization in charge of the project should have safeguards in place to protect it from damage or destruction.
   • For example, if the project involves planting trees, steps should be taken to ensure that those trees will grow to maturity. Obviously a forest can't be 100 percent protected from fires or natural disasters, but some sort of safeguards should be in place to reduce those risks.
4. Make sure the carbon offset is verified and enforceable. There are third party organizations that verify the legitimacy of carbon offsets, as well as the protections for the project or penalties in effect if others involved don't follow through with their promises.
   • For example, if the carbon offset provider is paying farmers in the Amazon to protect trees on their property from loggers, there should be a hefty penalty if a farmer takes the carbon offset money and then sells the trees on his property to a logging company anyway.
5. Evaluate the "additionality" of the offset. "Additionality" is a word used in the carbon offset industry, and generally means that the offset must provide additional protection for the environment.
   • A carbon offset is not legitimate if your money is going for something that would have happened anyway. For example, if the carbon offset provider is paying farmers in the Amazon to protect trees on their property from loggers, but one logger had no intention of allowing loggers to harvest trees on his property anyway, your carbon offset hasn't done anything that wasn't already going to be done.
   • You also have to be on the lookout for leakage. Preventing deforestation by paying farmers in the Amazon to protect trees doesn't really do anything additional to protect the environment if a logging company can simply cut down the trees next to that farmer's property.
6. Look for projects that are certified. Independent nonprofit organizations as well as government authorities in many countries offer certification programs that independently evaluate and verify carbon offset projects.
   • Some of these organizations, such as Climate Action Reserve, are standard-setting groups that establish specific rules and protocols that offset programs must follow.
   • There also are retail certification programs, such as Green-e Climate and Gold Standard, that can help you identify reliable carbon offset vendors.
   • Many national governments also have review boards and set standards for carbon offset programs. For example, in the United States you can look for carbon offset programs endorsed by the U.S. EPA Climate Leaders program.
7. Review the audits of the offset provider's portfolio. The project typically will be audited on a regular basis by the same organization that provides certification for the product or vendor. These audits are just like financial audits conducted by any company or organization.
   • If an offset provider is a nonprofit organization, you typically also can access the organization's financial reports. Through these reports, you can learn exactly how much of the money paid for an offset is going directly to the listed projects. For-profit offset providers rarely make these reports available to consumers.

Purchasing Carbon Offsets

1. Compare prices. The cost for carbon offsets varies greatly depending on the expense of the project as well as the general laws of supply and demand. You can expect to pay anywhere from $10 to $50 per metric ton of carbon dioxide emissions.
   • Keep in mind that just because one offset is more expensive than another, that doesn't necessarily mean it's better quality. Do your research on the projects independently of price, then choose a high-quality offset that best fits your budget.
2. Contact your utility company. Many utility companies sell carbon offsets to their customers that will help offset the carbon dioxide produced by your use of electricity in your home or office. Because these are measured and sold directly, this option may be more convenient for you.
   • Typically, you are charged a premium on your regular utility bill that offsets the carbon dioxide produced by your average energy use for that month.
3. Find an offset provider who will maximize your impact. The type of project you support depends largely on your own personal interests. However, many projects have additional, non-environmental impacts on the area around the project.
   • For example, a reforestation project in a developing country will create jobs, train workers, and improve the economy of the region. In addition to sequestering carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, this project has other environmental benefits including an improvement in local air quality, creation of wildlife habitats, and prevention of soil erosion.
4. Make sure your offset will be retired. You can't claim the benefit of your carbon offset until it is retired. Once the offset is retired, it cannot be resold to anyone else. Retirement indicates that the specific amount of carbon dioxide you purchased has in fact been reduced or eliminated.
   • For smaller-scale transactions, you typically don't have to worry about retirement – retailers automatically retire the carbon offsets when they're purchased. However, in the case of a larger purchase of carbon offsets, it may take some time before retirement can take place.
5. Complete your transaction. Once you've decided with carbon offset project you want to support, you typically can purchase your offset online using your credit card. Determine how many offsets you want to purchase and make sure the provider has that many available.
   • Make sure you get a receipt for your purchase. In some countries, carbon offsets may be tax deductible.
6. Purchase additional carbon offsets when traveling by air. Airplanes contribute considerable global carbon emissions. Many airlines as well as travel agencies provide the opportunity for you to purchase an offset when you book a flight.
   • These offsets are calculated for you personally based on the environmental impact of the flight you're taking.
   • If you purchase an offset through the airline, typically the cost for the offset is simply added to the price for your ticket.
7. Advertise your carbon neutrality. Particularly if you're buying carbon offsets for a small business, your customers will want to know that your business is socially and environmentally responsible.
   • Avoid advertising carbon neutrality until your carbon offsets have been retired. You also might consider having your carbon neutrality certified by a third-party organization.

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