What are Carbon Offsets: Going Green and Creating Green Power Projects

As we all become more aware of our collective responsibility as stewards of our planet, capitalism has produced a verifiable mechanism for reducing carbon emissions, creating clean energy and engaging us all with the ability to minimize the damage we do to our environment.

Carbon Offsets are a simple way for all of us to create a better environment for ourselves, our kids and, the big one, our grandchildren. More selfishly, we all need clean air to breathe and clean water to drink. And especially those of us who live in Arizona, we don’t really want it to get any hotter on Summer Days!

Buying Carbon Offsets for Your Home Costs Less than a Day of Air Conditioning

While Reducing, Reusing and Recycling are key in preventing climate change, offsetting your carbon emissions is the next great step in the preservation of our environment for generations to come. The Carbon Calculator Math is below, or you could use a Carbon Footprint Calculator at www.ecoaidnow.com/Calculators.aspx

To offset your carbon emissions simply means to neutralize your part in the polluting of our environment. In technical terms, a carbon offset is a certificate representing the reduction of one metric ton (2,205 lbs) of carbon dioxide emissions. What you are doing when you carbon offset is to use money to pay for your carbon footprint. That money, in turn goes to support carbon projects that reduce the amount of carbon in the air. It is a balancing act. These certified (meaning third-party verified) projects, such a reforestation, need financial backing to make them viable, so the carbon offset is a valuable investment.

Since carbon dioxide emissions are the principal cause of climate change, purchasing carbon offsets is key to promoting a greener environment. Every ton of emissions reduced will result in the creation of one certified carbon offset.

When you offset your personal carbon emissions, you are doing your much-needed part in helping to put an end to global warming and climate change. In addition to making the world a better place, you just might also score a few popularity points with your friends and family.

There is no question that we have a problem. The only question is how people will interpret and react to the problem. A number of people maintain that the world isn’t in a crisis. George Carlin speculated that the Earth just needed plastic, and now that it has it, the humans are no longer needed! That is certainly one perspective.

The Challenge is not so much Global Climate Change, but more of a personal one. Do we want to live in a clean world or a dirty one! Do we want to be subject to wars over fossil fuels? Are we, as individuals, stewards of business, operators of government, and elected officials, willing to take action to right the environmental wrongs we might create? The global becomes personal.

Buying Carbon Offsets is one way to deploy our resources towards a better Future. The best first step is to always think about the very real consequences of your actions. Protecting our air and water isn’t something that can be taken care of by someone else, we have to do it for ourselves.

To take an active role in neutralizing your carbon emissions today use our individual carbon calculator (ecoaidnow.com/Calculators.aspx).

About the Author:
Eric Putnam, MA, LAC, received his M.A. in Applied Sociology from Northern Arizona University in 1994 and a M.A. in Professional Counseling from Ottawa University in 2004. He was previously the Clinical Director of CPS Crisis Stabilization Services at TERROS, INC. He is currently President of Independence Behavioral Coaching. Visit IBC’s blog at http://behavioralcoach.com.