Green & Good
Knowing how many gallons of jet fuel it takes to get an airplane off the ground and how much in the way of carbon dioxide emissions each air excursion creates, the most sustainable option this summer is probably to stay on the ground and ride your bike to an outdoor concert. (Answers: thousands of gallons per hour and 100 gallons per passenger; and over a 1,000 pounds of greenhouse gases per passenger on an average flight.)
But if your Great Aunt Sylvia lives on the other side of the country or you are by nature an adventurer who equates staying in town all season to walking on hot coals during a heat
Carbon offsets are a bit of a polemic, but ultimately, since they help fund projects that reduce emissions and combat climate change, they can’t be bad. In fact, it’s a similar concept as planting a tree. Yes, I’m going to use electricity to cool my yogurt and power my laptop, but I’m also going to plant a tree in my yard to provide shade, cut energy demand and give a little clean air back to the world.
If you haven’t yet explored the world of offsetting, here are some ydt-approved places to start:
- Native Energy helps you counterbalance your aviation emissions by financing sustainable projects benefiting Native Americans, Alaskan villages or small, family farms. View its projects here.
- Celebrity carbon offsetter, TerraPass, has certificates starting at less than twelve bucks for those of us going to and from a city just a few states away. See its carbon-offsetting endeavors here.
- If you opt for vacationing at home, Renewable Choice can help you counteract electricity you use there while washing margarita glasses, chilling salads or powering up your DVD player for movie night by providing wind power for purchase.
- And finally, if you’re road or bike-tripping it, Better World Club offers vehicle and bike roadside assistance along with all the other auto club accoutrements at the same price or lower than AAA. Meanwhile, it donates 1% of its profits to environmental causes. (Discounts for hybrid or biodiesel drivers are available.)
Penance has never been so painless.
- 1 comment
- Your thoughts?
Related Articles
Comments
Tracy Hepler
On my recent trip to Hawaii I learned about
http://www.hawaiicarbonoffsets.com/
Since to many of us do travel to Hawaii during the summer it is a great way to get back to the Hawaiian Community
Green your trip to Hawaii
Offset your flight emissions by funding
reforestation projects in Hawaii.
Visiting Hawaii is a great experience. The islands are the furthest distance away from any continental mass and therefore have their very own flora and fauna. The ideal climate year-round makes everything grow.
The preferred way to come to the islands is by long distance flight. Each flight between the U.S. west coast and Hawaii burns thousands of gallons of aviation fuel and creates carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Per passenger this works out to the equivalent of one ton of carbon dioxide per flight.
We will be offering carbon offsets that allow you to neutralize these emissions.
