Do You Fully Understand Carbon “Offsets?”
First of all, whether we want to admit it or not, we all have carbon footprint that needs an offset. But what is a carbon offset? It basically is a commodity offered by a company or even a broker that allows you to pay a fee that will in turn help offset (or neutralize) the greenhouse impact of your energy use. Companies like Native Energy and Carbon Catalog calculate the carbon footprint, then add up the price of the clean energy creation that is required to make up for the carbon you pumped into the atmosphere.
Your money needs to be making a new alternative energy project always happen not for projects that already exists. The amount of emissions reduced by an offset project determines its true benefits on our world. Then trying to find a legitimate offsets, first ask if the offsets result from specific emissions reduction or sequestration projects and can the company you are purchasing it from, would the project happen without offset dollars. And the most important question of all ask, is how is the company educating their buys about global warming. There are always questions that need to be asked when finding a good broker to give your offset dollars to in order to fix your carbon footprints. Keep an eye out and your ears open when it comes to this and make sure most importantly that you money isn’t going down the tube and your footprint is getting larger.
*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Are you a green guru or a faded shade of green, take the Fine Living Quiz here to find out what color of green you are.
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