Carbon offsetting and reducing our carbon footprint - Because we can't ride our bikes to Patagonia1/9/2019 How can we reduce our carbon footprint?
I work pretty hard on a daily basis to make my carbon footprint as low as possible. I ride my bike everywhere, I eat a vegetarian diet and generally buy as little new “stuff” as possible. I travel A LOT though which is the most significant contributor to my overall carbon footprint. Despite all the everyday actions I take to reduce my impact on the environment my overall carbon footprint is still just below average. I was recently completed a quiz to estimate my annual carbon footprint which was calculated to be approximately 14.3 metric tonnes/year, mainly because of all the flights I take. The average car-driving, suburban living, meat-eating American’s carbon footprint is 16.9 metric tonnes/year (according to the Franklin Institute). So what can be done to minimise the environmental impact of flying? Well for starters not flying as much is a great place to begin, or just flying to places a little closer to home. I'm working on that but I’m not yet ready to give up travel altogether though, seeing the world is a great way to put your life into perspective, to become more open minded and in this case to inspire change. I’m definitely more environmentally conscious because of all of my adventures around the world. To lower our carbon footprint and to ease our guilt a little we’re going to be calculating the overall carbon footprint from the travel associated with this expedition and offsetting it. It doesn’t make it go away, the fossil fuels were still burned, and emissions still created but it’s a start and it’s better than nothing. What is carbon offsetting? Carbon offsets are a form of trade. Purchasing offsets means you are investing money into projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Examples are planting trees, installing wind turbines or investing in energy efficient projects. You contribute to financing these large projects and overall there are less greenhouse gas emissions. These carbon offsetting projects are not without controversy. Many have been found to be a bit of scam in that there is no vetting process to verify that the projects actually happened, that trees were actually planted or that they stayed alive after they were planted. So be picky with who you choose to offset your carbon footprint and especially if it’s really cheap look closely at the project you’re investing in, what’s the catch? From my research a few reliable international organisations I’ve found are: CarbonFund, Terrapass and NativeEnergy We’re looking at projects closer to home however. There are several carbon offsetting projects in New Zealand, most of which involve pine plantations. We’re super keen to help fund native trees however and have found two great options in New Zealand. Right in Wanaka there is Te Kakano native plant nursery. We’re able to sponsor tree plantings next year equivalent to the carbon emissions from our flights. Te Kakano is a pretty small operation however and so for bigger offsets we’ve found Ekos Carbon offsetting. They are working with local Iwi in Southland to protect and restore native forrest. Imagine if every person for every flight they took invested in a project like this? Or if it was compusary? Hopefully our actions will inspire others to do the same as us. Remember though, the first step is to reduce as much as you can, then the second step is to offset what you can’t reduce. Here's a few interesting articles I read in my research: Hey Mr Green from the Sierra Club How Carbon Offsets work – How Stuff Works Should you buy carbon offsets? – NRDC Third party verification for carbon offset projects – Green-e Climate Can Carbon Offsets work? – B the Change Responsible Travel – New York Times
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