How To Offset My Carbon Footprint
Whatever your stance on the global warming issue, i.e man-made or a natural cyclical part of the earth’s evolution, it remains a fact that reducing your Carbon Footprint is a ‘Good Thing’!
Even if you take it down to the basics of showing respect for the planet you live on and the environment of which provides you with air to breathe and food to eat.
But what’s the ‘offset’ element?
In my opinion it means that if I travel by plane often, have 2 gas guzzling cars and a penchant for 24 hour air-conditioning in my office then that’s all fine as long as I can work out the damage my lifestyle is doing to the environment ( in the tonnes of carbon emissions said lifestyle generates) and paying a fee to worthy environmentally friendly causes – tree planting etc. so I can sleep easy at night knowing I’ve restored the balance
While many might think that this is an easy solution if you can afford it ( and many of us can’t) so what’s the point?
To set the record straight my air flights these days are minimal, I have one car but take public transport when I can and can live without the a/c on every day. But the reality is that while I recycle as best I can, buy green wherever possible and make every effort to lower the negative effect that my being a resident of Planet earth has my ‘footprint’ will always be in the ‘negative’.
Anyone living in the West is in exactly the same position.
Well call it a sop to my conscience if you will but my paying a small amount of money every month to worthwhile projects around the world, for example:
- Funding wind power projects in India
- Re-forestation projects in South America and elsewhere
- Supporting renewable energy projects worldwide
- Sustainable development in Africa
It makes me feel better about the way I live my life knowing I am supporting some of these causes.
If you want to find out what your Carbon Footprint is, and ways to offset it, visit our Carbon Footprint Calculator page.
Related posts:
Filed Under: Featured • Save The Planet
