Addressing Climate Change Through Carbon Offsets

The period between Thanksgiving and New Year's is one of the busiest for transportation and travel. Whether it be driving a car to stores, ordering gifts on-line or flying across the country, or perhaps further, to visit relatives, these all contribute to climate change. According to the U.S. EPA, transportation accounts for approximately 29 percent of the overall greenhouse gas emissions from the United States. One way of mitigating this impact is to contribute to programs that work to reduce emissions, this is called purchasing carbon offsets.

A stopover in Iceland helped us acquire a better understanding of global climate issues with melting glaciers

This past year we attended a niece's graduation and two weddings which all required airline travel, including one to Europe. Although the best thing for the environment may be to avoid airline travel all together, maintaining family connections and social bounds is important as well. When flying cannot be avoided, you can feel a little better if you make a donation to offset the emissions for that travel. Some airlines provide this option at the time of purchase of your ticket. This is the easiest way as it avoids having to do your own carbon emissions calculation. However, if your airline did not provide this option or if you would like to purchase off-sets after the fact, the United Nations, International Civil Agency Organization, provides a simple calculator that estimates the carbon footprint per passenger for an individual flight. Once you do the calculation, you then select a program or particular project which will reduce carbon emission, and make a donation at least equivalent to the amount of your impact. If you do not have a project in mind, here is a list of three reputable websites to begin your research.  Examples of projects are those that capture methane, install solar panels, deliver clean cook-stoves, and plant trees to address deforestation.

Green-e.org

Gold Standard.org

Cool Effect.org

Purchasing carbon offsets for travel is just one way to reduce the overall carbon emissions world-wide.  Remember that you don't need to wait to fly to invest in reforestation and renewable energy projects. By reducing our own carbon footprint and donating to organizations that are implementing on the ground solutions to reduce carbon emissions our individual actions can make a difference.