I've just paid to offset my CO2 emmissions for my flights next month. All power to Rough Guides for placing a link to
Climate Care so prominantly on their website. Check them out, you type in where you're flying from and to, and it calculates how much Climate Gasses you, yourself would produce because of this journey. This is then converted to a dollar amount which is used to fund projects that reduce emissions on your behalf. These make savings in greenhouse gases and also have wider benefits to the local communities and environment too. The website lists three types of projects:
* Renewable energy - replacing non-renewable fuel such as fossil fuels
* Energy efficiency - reducing the amount of fuel needed
* Forest restoration - absorbing carbon as the trees grow
And they don't just do flights, they can also help you offset your carbon footprint in driving a car or powering your house.
I know there are some issues with the use of climate credits - especially the argument that if people can just 'buy their way out of' their impact on the planet, then no real lifestyle changes are likely to occur. Plus there's some specific problems with the accuracy of the caluclations used and the efficacy of individual projects and whatever.
It's true that offsetting your negative implacts on the envioronment by funding positive projects can never be a complete solution to climate change, or any of the other environmental crises we face for that matter. We need massive change, on a systemic level, for there to be any real hope for arresting the damage we're doing.
But on my own small level, this is one thing that I *can* do. It is the argument of the lazy and the complacent to say that because an action won't be the whole solution we shouldn't change what we can. Giving a small donation to the charity of your choice won't solve global poverty but it will make sure somebody eats that that day who might not have.
I try to make responsible choices. I'm vegetarian, I don't drive a car, I recycle and grow my own food and eat organic. I give money when I can and I don't kick the fluffy little bunny-rabbits (unless they're feral of course). But I love to travel, and travel means flying and flying is one of the worst things I can do to the environment. So if I continue to make the choice to travel, knowing the envioronmental consequences, and I know of something I can do to help, in whatever small way, to minimise them, then I must do that thing.
It's not expensive - for my return flight to Iran from Australia it cost me around AUD$70. That offsets the
3.86 tons (!) of CO2 which is my share of this plane trip.
For me, I think that paying to offset my Carbon use will become like travel insurance. If you can't afford it, you can't afford to travel.
Check out these websites (there's heaps more though - google is your friend):
- Climate Care - UK site, although you can pay in AUD (and many other currencies too)
- Ecofoot - lets you calculate your ecological footprint (what is your personal impact on the planet)
