Traveling Green

Hi Gwen, what good timing as today I just read on MSN.COM an article about carbon offset programs. I went online to NativeEnergy.com and they have a great tool where you plug in your info about how,where you are traveling and you get an estimate of the carbon emissions your trip will cause, then a suggested $$ you can donate to a program they sponsor to purchase wind turbine power or methane gas converters from farm families in the midwest. The article is on msn.com today under Business Travel and eco friendly issues. For example my trip to Italy with driving to the airport, flying and taking trains means I will incur 4.4 tons of CO 2 and if I donate $60 to one of those programs, I can 'payback' my emissions. I plan on doing it, check it out!

Carbon Offsets may sound like a good thing but you need to be careful. It is only a matter of time before these offsetting scams are exposed.

Donate some money and feel good that you are planting trees, but who is making sure that they really are planting trees????

There needs to be some oversight on this industry. It is like an unregulated stock market. You would be better off doing the calculation (which vary considerably on each site) and then making a domation to your local conservation organization. That way you can see what your offset really is doing and you will know that it is not being reinvested in some hedgefund someplace before it actually plants a tree.

Mike has some interesting points.

It would be very easy to get scammed, since this is such a new thing. In industry building up around a "fad" it seems. Wouldn't it be better to do extra community service in your area, helping where you can see you will really make a difference?

The donations suggested aren't to pay for sins, but options to replace the carbon impact. Both the Terra Pass and NativeEnergy have real, documented and real life sustainable energy options that we can invest in or not; what we are talking about here are options. If I can afford a $900 rt to Italy, I can afford a $60 donation to a wind turbine farm. That will indeed be a benefit in 10, 20 or 50 years after I am gone..

I do donate my time and money to local charities. Every time I travel anywhere I make it a point to volunteer for at least two days whether it is picking up trash on a beach or helping a local organization in an effort to do my part.
So then, is buying carbon offsets still buying my way out of guilt? It may not be fool-proof, but isn't doing something better than doing nothing?

Would one be more inclined to participate in a carbon offset program if it had a seal of approval from a well-know environmental organization like Greenpeace or WWF?

Isn't trying to do your part for the environment doing something for “real human needs”- after all, where would humans be without a sustainable world for us to live in?

Why, if not to assuage guilt, do you do extra volunteer work prior to going on a trip? By "real human needs" I meant helping people who are in need today. Wouldn't the money people are spending to plant trees be better spent helping to feed, clothe or shelter people today, especially since there is no real evidence that planting trees will do anything to affect climate change?

Not all carbon offset programs involve tree-planting...and yes, there is evidence that planting trees (or at least saving stands being cut down by rapacious landowners) is very valuable in the tropical belt of our globe, places like Amazonia. Just make sure the group is a registered charity in a nation which keeps an eye on such groups. Many airlines are now offering links with such groups, and one would assume that, for public relations reasons, they've checked them out pretty closely. I think it's a wonderful idea to add carbon offsets to your already-extensive list of charitable and social concerns....it'd be nice to make sure we have a liveable globe in a century or two!

I do volunteer work year round at home with local organizations and while I’m traveling I do volunteer work in whatever country I happen to be in.

I've never done volunteer work as a way to assuage guilt- almost the complete opposite really. And purchasing carbon offsets is not born from guilt either- rather a concern. Maybe trying to offset the immense damage flying does to the environment is a silly thing to hope for- I don't know. I was simply looking for tangible ways to lessen the damage.

I guess my original question is: what other options are there? Is there something that can be done, realistically, or is not flying the only real option? If it is, are we prepared to accept it and find other ways to travel?

I agree with Jerry. Given all of the real human needs there are today isn't it better to do something that you know is worthwhile rather than something that might or might not make a difference 20 or 50 or 100 years from now? Giving money to a reputable humanitarian organization is real charity. Buying carbon offsets is self indulgent atonement for guilt.

You don't have to be a "greenie" to be concerned about the environment....and there are lots of charitable-status organizations dedicated to carbon offsets that aren't making anyone wealthy.

I received an interesting email today titled
Tale of two houses. I checked it out on
www.snopes.com and it is true.