Carbon Footprints and Carbon Offsets
What is a Carbon Footprint?
A carbon footprint is "the total set of GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions caused directly and indirectly by an individual, organization, event or product" (UK Carbon Trust 2008). So for example, a large part of a participant's carbon footprint for the State of the Arctic Conference will be their flight to Miami.
What is a Carbon Offset?
A carbon offset represents the reduction, removal, or avoidance of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from a specific project that is used to compensate for GHG emissions occurring somewhere else. One carbon offset represents the reduction of one metric ton of carbon dioxide or its equivalent in other greenhouse gases.
Offsets are typically achieved through financial support of projects that reduce the emission of greenhouse gases in the short- or long-term. Categories that offset projects support often include renewable energy, emission reduction, energy efficiency, conservation of biodiversity, and reforestation.
Purchasing a carbon offset is one way that you can counterbalance the emissions from the flight that gets you to Miami.
If you are interested in purchasing a carbon offset, we've done some research and can make some suggestions to make it easy for you!
How Do I Know Which Offset Provider to Choose?
In 2006, Clean Air-Cool Planet commissioned a private company out of Oregon to conduct an independent survey and evaluation of retail offset providers. This one-of-a-kind report, A Consumer's Guide to Retail Carbon Offset Providers, ranked three US providers in the top tier of performing retail offset providers.
These are:
- Sustainable Travel International: http://www.sustainabletravelinternational.org/
- NativeEnergy: http://www.nativeenergy.com/
- Climate Trust: http://www.climatetrust.org/index.html
Each company individually selects the criteria as well as the projects that they choose to support with the money that they receive. These projects are described on the providers' websites.
How Do I Calculate My Carbon Footprint For This Meeting?
Sustainable Travel International and NativeEnergy both have carbon footprint calculators for air travel on their websites that make it easy to calculate your CO2 emissions for a national or international flight.
How Do I Purchase an Offset?
- Go directly to the air travel webpage at either website:
Sustainable Travel International: https://sustainabletravelinternational.org/documents/op_carboncalcs.html
NativeEnergy: http://www.nativeenergy.com/pages/travel_calculator/465.php
- Enter your flight information and receive a calculated amount of CO2 with which you can choose to offset.
- Purchase your carbon-offset credit directly on each of these websites or use that information to purchase an offset with Climate Trust.
How Much Will It Cost?
Example: a flight from Boston to Miami would generate approximately 1 ton of CO2 from flying 2518 miles round trip. The cost of the offset for this would be $25-$28 depending on which website you use.
What if I am flying internationally? If you are flying internationally, Sustainable Travel International can calculate the offset for your flight plus they offer a currency converter and exchanger to accept foreign currency. If you are interested in a different offset provider, these international companies were also rated top tier in the same report:
Atmosfair (Germany): http://www.atmosfair.de/index.php?L=3
CarbonNeutral Company (UK): http://www.carbonneutral.com/
Climate Care (UK): http://www.jpmorganclimatecare.com/
Co2balance (UK): http://www.co2balance.com/
In no way is ARCUS associated with or will benefit from any of these suggested carbon offset companies.
