Carbon offsets are instruments that may be acquired and sold to balance the GHG emissions generated by a person or a company. Preferably, we offset emissions when we cannot prevent them while executing our daily necessary activities. If one generates emissions in the presence of an alternate sustainable way, it is generally frowned upon by eco-conscious people. For simplicity, one carbon offset is measured as the reduction of one metric ton of CO2.

Numerous European countries have made nationwide legislations that allow firms to release up to a particular amount of emissions. If a firm releases over that set limit, it has to purchase carbon offsets to balance the equation. Apart from this compliance market, there’s also a growing market for voluntary purchase of offsets. Those who are eco-conscious buy offsets to reduce their personal carbon footprint even though they are not forced by law to do this. This voluntary acquisition, however, is not restricted to individuals, and several large firms too buy offsets to retain a low carbon footprint or to develop an environmental friendly image.

So that’s how the need for carbon offsets arises, either via legal regulations that in some way penalize businesses or because of growing consciousness in voluntary purchasers. Now how are carbon offsets ‘manufactured’? Offset providers take part in large scale projects that are designed to cut GHG emissions in even millions of metric tons, and as mentioned earlier, every metric ton of carbon dioxide lessened creates one carbon offset. These projects make certain that the overall emissions released on earth get reduced so the precise site of these projects is not a big concern.

This is easy to understand because GHG emissions generated in one nation influence the entire planet when they dissolve into thin air. Hence, a project cutting emissions in India can be used to offset emissions produced in the UK. This approach has become famous as cutting greenhouse gases in third world countries is mostly far cheaper than reducing the same volume of emissions in European countries.

There are many viewpoints for and against the system of carbon offsetting but those are beyond the scope of this introductory article. All in all, carbon offsets do play a role in decrease of greenhouse gases if generated by genuine projects and traded with full transparency.

We are all well-aware of the staggering effects that our use of fossil fuels has had, and will continue to have, on the environment. Global warming, acid rain and a host of devastating results will continue to threaten the majority of species currently inhabiting the planet for many ages to come. Luckily there are also millions of people currently working hard to reduce and limit these problems, and their efforts tend to be focused on several key “green” initiatives.

These initiatives encompass a wide range of efforts and plans, but the bulk of them tend to be centered on alternative energy production. Rather than relying upon coal, oil and gas for energy production, these groups work to create reliable and affordable methods for creating energy from solar rays, wind, water and even steam.

What is the future of green initiatives? That question involves multiple answers. For instance, there is a huge trend for consumers and businesses to purchase things called “carbon offsets”. These are tax deductible contributions to groups working to create alternative energy sources or who are currently at work in reforestation projects, among other programs. The majority of them offer a consumer tools that will help them determine their carbon usage during a standard year and then allow them to purchase “offsets” against their consumption. This tends to “balance the scales” which is something that has not been happening over the past few centuries.

Of course a majority of people look to solar technologies as the simplest and most well-developed of the green initiatives. Solar energy has been studied for more than a century, but only since the 1950s has its real potential been recognized and implemented. Today, there are active solar energy power plants and many home and business owners have taken strong measures to implement as many solar energy options as possible in their homes and offices. Using outdoor LED lights is one such strategy. 

There are also some great answers in the power of the wind, but this is a bit more restrictive in implementation because a measurable and steady supply of wind must always be present in order for the system to work. Currently there are hundreds of “wind farms” working to supply communities or homes with their energy needs.

Though there are many problems facing the planet, there are also millions who want to work to solve them. This is the basis for all of the green movements and green initiatives at work in the modern world. The technologies that will lead to their success have been improving and becoming more and more accessible every year, and will continue to do so for decades to come.

We all are constantly aware and alarmed by the fatal consequences of global warming. This has resulted in air and water to become warmer and warmer and faster melting of glaciers by each passing minute. This normally reflects the sunlight back into space which in turn compounds the global warming problem. We knowingly or unknowingly aggravate the ever growing problem. We use electricity, vehicle and plastics everyday which are the main carbon producers that households contribute to global warming.

Global warming is a burning issue globally. Today new car, used cars and trucks equally burn gasoline to get on with their regular work and gasoline burning is a major resource of carbon dioxide emissions everywhere. Carbon Dioxide is thus emitted into the environment. Carbon Dioxide has been scientifically linked to global climate change and warming. Therefore, complete awareness among people is required to combat this disastrous issue. People must be motivated and enthusiastic about reduction of this gas through whatever ways possible to maintain equilibrium in the eco system.

Everyday while driving a car, lighting your residence and office, transporting goods and also using a computer, we use energy and produce greenhouse gas emissions like carbon dioxide that have a major consequence on the climate change. You will inevitably have to pay hugely for your emissions; thus by employing carbon offsets, you can make an equivalent greenhouse gas saving. By taking a few things into consideration too, you can control carbon dioxide emission. You must switch off the light when not in use, must start a habit of walking or cycling which will in turn reduce the use of automobiles.

There are various kinds of project that will help to reduce carbon emissions. The projects include renewable Energy, Hydro Power, solar power, agricultural residues and wind power etc. Each project is very helpful and plays a vital role in reductions of CO2 that would not have happened otherwise. If you are engaged in a business that transmits CO2, you should start by reducing your consumption and your carbon footprint now. Your small steps can make a huge difference. Business carbon offsetting is making a positive and real statement to your employees, customers and shareholders. Just like you they all are also affected by climate change and will be more attracted, and devoted to businesses that are committed towards caring for the environment. Green companies are more efficient and more beneficial than their rivals. Many of the most successful ones are now familiar with the clear business benefits of addressing environmental issues.

I’ve heard just about every argument under the sun when discussing the greenhouse gas offsets model with friends and colleagues. After hearing these arguments for the first time, I often wondered whether the comments were justified or whether they were just a pile of excuses for not making the voluntary step (in the context of travel). For the purposes of this article, “carbon offsets” and “greenhouse gas offsets” are used interchangeably. Although carbon dioxide is considered an important greenhouse gas (GHG), it is not the only GHG that is offset through the numerous programs available worldwide.

Those that are not as familiar with all forms of carbon offsetting often link the concept immediately to reforestation or tree planting which can produce a carbon sink and help an individual, group or organization achieve a ‘climate neutral’ status. While this is a common form of carbon offsetting, there are various other types of useful offset projects. This is important because a lot of controversy surrounding offsets seems to have its roots in reforestation project criticism.

Although many organizations and individuals invest in GHG offsets irrespective of travel (e.g. Offsetting industrial operations), a significant driver for the birth of this model is the pollution caused by our local and international travel. While road transportation obviously amounts to a large portion of world CO2 emissions, the intensity (impact per passenger km) and diversity of air travel stands out as well. In addition to altering atmospheric concentrations of CO2, ozone and methane, airplane emissions lead to the formation of contrails while emitting water vapor, sulphur oxides, nitric oxides, nitrogen dioxide and soot8.

Although there seems to be sufficient evidence linking our travels (particularly by car and plane) to global warming and atmospheric degradation, many travellers are hesitant to take that next step to offset their emissions while away from home. Yes, not everyone feels strongly enough about the environment to pay more for a trip voluntarily…but among those that do, I believe this unwillingness has its roots with both the public and the “carbon neutral” companies. I feel both must put forth more effort to keep GHG offsets transparent and useful. When it comes to investing in carbon or greenhouse gas offsets, the onus is on you as the consumer to ensure you are contributing to a true and efficient offset program. By doing your research and investing only in companies that have taken all the appropriate steps, you will help to add more credibility to certification programs and spur organizations to improve their business and operate more responsibly.

Foundations such as the Gold Standard makes one’s decision much easier as they work to alleviate the major concerns surrounding this environmental economic model and provide a label to carbon offsetting projects. To ease your research efforts, independent websites simplify the process by allowing you access to a useful database of GHG offset companies with an unbiased rating included. These companies have been emerging fast from out of the woodwork so it is important to know who is legit and who is not – most importantly, knowing where your investment is going.

After doing more research myself, I am convinced that the process of purchasing carbon/greenhouse gas offsets can be fair and rewarding, and also of lasting benefit to the environment. I will also agree with what David Suzuki said when I saw him on the “If You Were Prime Minister Tour” – that at least in the short term, as we more towards cleaner technologies and methods, carbon offsets help to fill the gap. A certain amount of trust is ultimately put on to the offset company and also on a 3rd party to ensure the project is controlled and streamlined, but with the maturity of certification and carbon offset organizations, many purchasers believe this is a non-issue.

In conclusion, I’m not going to start naming celebrities and musicians who swear by carbon offsets while on tour – I’ll spare you the lame angle. Whether you have already supported offset projects or are thinking about it in the future, even Pearl Jam knows to do their homework before jumping into it blind. Oops, that one slipped.

With all the stress on the environment today, carbon and greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction has become a major issue. With more than 20 million tons of carbon dioxide being produced globally each year; reducing carbon emissions, curtailing waste, and producing more clean energy are the call of the day. Eco-conscious individuals, businesses, and corporations are all striving towards reducing their carbon footprint. When emissions are reduced as much as possible or until it’s feasible to eliminate the carbon footprint, carbon offsets come into play. A carbon offset is a form of trading, specifically a credit for the reduction in harmful emissions not by the firm’s actions but through the work of another establishment. This credit is generated when the said establishment’s work results in a drop in the level of carbon dioxide or greenhouse gas emissions below a certain mandatory or voluntary cap. The mandatory/compliance cap is usually set by governments or an international body. Therefore, a carbon offset essentially lets an entity pay to reduce the level of these harmful pollutants rather than making any improbable or unachievable reductions on its own.

These carbon offsets are traded on a local, national and global scale. An international network of retailers, brokers and trading arenas exist to facilitate the buying and selling of these offsets. The offsets are normally measured in terms of a ton of carbon dioxide equivalents i.e. CO2e. Various activities can help create carbon offsets; for example, the use of renewable sources of energy such as wind power and biomass energy as well as participating in activities like reforestation and agriculture. The use of renewable energy systems can generate a tremendous carbon offset, due to the important fact that they eliminate the dependency on fossil fuels and virtually generate zero emissions.

As far as offset projects go, wind projects tend to be more sustainable and viable, especially since the process does not produce any ozone harming by-products and does not depend on fossil fuels. To quantify how many carbon offsets are generated by a wind farm, according to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), in 2008, the U.S. wind energy industry brought online approximately 8,500 megawatts (MW) of new wind power capacity. This production will help avoid nearly 44 million tons of carbon emissions – the equivalent of taking 7 million cars off the road. Therefore, for every megawatt of installed capacity, a wind farm can potentially earn approximately 5,175 of CO2e – the equivalent of taxing approximately 820 cars off the road. Wind energy generation organizations sell carbon offsets, benefitting both the buyer and the company. Buyers purchase these offsets because supporting wind power not only leads to the creation of a ‘green’ source of energy, but also helps ‘negate’ their own greenhouse emissions, big and small. Buying carbon offsets from wind farms are not only a way to ease the buyers’ conscience and reduce their carbon footprint, but can also be much less expensive than making changes to eliminate emissions. The wind energy generation facility itself profits because selling these offsets makes the project more financially viable and profitable, which helps increase the scale of productivity as well.

With environmental markets growing, it is necessary to understand the scope of emissions today.

There are three different scopes for carbon emissions that occur in the carbon footprint of an organization or business concern:

Emissions that are created directly at the location, through direct sources like on-site machinery and apparatus like a generator located at a factory. Energy related emissions and indirect power based emissions like the electricity purchased by a company to keep the premises well lit up. Emissions that occur via indirect sources of emissions like those related to the use of paper in an office, corporate travel etc.

As the United States has neither ratified the Kyoto Protocol nor mandated any laws to cap its emissions as of July 2009, all carbon offsets are voluntary. Therefore, only two environmental markets coexist in the U.S. i.e. carbon offsets also known as voluntary emission reductions (VERs) and renewable energy certificates (RECs). Although these markets are interrelated, there are marked differences between the two commodities.

VERs or carbon offsets, also called carbon reduction ton, denotes activities that result in a cutting of, reduction and/or getting rid of one ton of greenhouses gases at a given site, to counteract an emission taking place in another. Typically these offsets are used to negate direct emissions or a scope one emission. For example a company can purchase carbon offsets created through a wind power project to ‘clear’ emissions created by a boiler in their office.

Offsets are subject to a rigorous set of guidelines, standards and rules. These guidelines primarily ensure that vital environmental and financial criteria are met so that customers can be assured that the offsets purchased are indeed authentic and verifiable. There is also an additionality requirement that represents the fact that a given greenhouse gas reduction project would not have been made possible without the expectation of additional funds procured from the sale of offsets. This is to ensure that the emissions reduction activity is in addition to regular business practice, hence facilitating a reduction that would not have happened otherwise in previous circumstances. In other words, countries and/ or businesses must make an active contribution to emission reduction in order to earn or sell credits instead of relying on pre-existing projects planned for other reasons with funds already committed. Thereby, ensuring buyers that their purchase will further the betterment of the global climate and environment.

RECs or renewable energy certificates denote one megawatt hour (MWh) of energy produced by a ‘clean’ renewable source. Energy produced by sources like wind, hydro, and biomass represents an offset because an environmentally friendly procedure replaces one using environmentally degrading fuel; emitting little to no carbon in the process. Emission reductions take place during energy creation, by replacing fossil fuel, at the utility itself. RECs are typically used to counteract indirect scope two emissions, wherein ‘clean’ megawatts of electricity by the REC can neutralize the unclean ones used by a company. RECs, however, are generally not held to the same standards and more importantly the additionality requirements like VERs. As a result, they can be supplied from resources that are running as is, or in part from additional business activities.

It is interesting to note that only renewable energy projects such as wind farms and solar power plants meet the highest standards required of carbon offsets, as the risks they pose to the environment are negligible and they encourage a much needed departure from fossil fuel usage.

How to make your environmentalism pay!

STEP 1: Figure it out:

Every time that you drive your car you contribute to global warming. The same is true for turning on a light-unless you are purchasing energy from alternative sources.

This article will help you off-set those carbon emissions. It is not that expensive to do this, and you will be helping to pay for some of the environmental cost incurred by your company.

Discovering our carbon imprint wasn’t as easy as we thought it would be. I had heard about carbon offsets opportunities for a while, and we wanted to do it, but we did not know how. Most of the information used for determining the carbon generated is geared to the consumer, not the small manufacturing business.

We found these sites particularly helpful in trying to come up with figures and just having these links might save you hours of time:

http://www.carboncounter.org/

http://www.carbonfootprint.com/

http://www.climatecrisis.net/takeaction/carboncalculator/

http://www.carbonfund.org/site/

Using these sites, our company of ten employees produces carbon emissions from these six sources. The figures are in metric tons:

1. Employee commute: 28.9 tons

2. Employee business travel: 13.44 tons

3. Shop gasses (from soldering): .11 tons

4. Company vehicles: 6.02 tons

5. Electricity: 2.43 tons

6. Natural gas: .47 tons

Our biggest impact is employee commutes and travel. Electricity is low because ninety percent of our energy comes from green sources. Compact fluorescent light bulbs are used in the plant.

The question is, once you are able to figure out your actual offset, how do you turn it into your advantage? That comes with who you choose to work with for your offset.

STEP 2: Choose your organization

You can go on line and see a number of organizations that offer different offset possibilities. From this, you can actually see what you are going to pay for your off-set.

http://www.ecobusinesslinks.com/carbon_offset_wind_credits_carbon_reduction.htm

There have been some rumors in the press that question whether money donated to certain organizations for off-set are actually being used for that purpose. Research your choice well.

The company that I chose to work with is not on this list. Forest Guardians, a New Mexico based environmental organization, has been involved with tree planting programs around streams beds in New Mexico, which supports most of biodiversity. Just as I was about to choose where to off-set my carbon, the assistant director, Carol Norton, gave me a call and asked me if I wanted to work with them. I have been a supporter of theirs for many years.

Their mission is:

“To protect and restore the native wildlands and wildlife of the American Southwest through fundamental reform of public policies and practices. Our goals are to protect and restore the native biological diversity and watersheds of the American Southwest; educate and enlist citizens to support protection of the forests, rivers, deserts and grasslands of this arid region; advocate for the principles of conservation biology in plans to restore degraded ecosystems and watersheds; enforce and strengthen environmental laws; support communities in efforts to protect their land and to practice and promote sustainable use of natural resources.”

Since I know the organization has integrity, I can be assured that the money will actually off set the carbon we use through tree planting. Also, I saw a greater opportunity to tap into their network.

One thing that particularly appealed to me about Forest Guardians is that their offsets addressed entire ecosystems. Secondly, they were willing to work with me in a press release. Going green is the right thing to do, but it costs money. So if you can, work with an organization that will give you publicity. Ask for a link from their site and see if they will write something about you in their newsletter.

In this regard, it is great if you can find a local organization because they are going to be more receptive and easier to access.

STEP 3: Write a Press Release

The critical thing now is to get support from the community that shares your green values. This is a huge advantage because socially responsible jewelry, even according to leaders in our industry such as Martin Rapaport, has the opportunity to become the luxury brand. A large number of people in our country, perhaps as much as twenty percent are interested in supporting companies that are socially responsible.

You need to make these people aware that you exist because you need their support. Being socially responsible costs money.

I write a lot of press releases and I used to just write boring ones. Here is an example of what I consider a bad press release.

Then, I realized that editors see hundreds of these a day, probably, and they are looking for press releases which are interesting and even provocative.

My last press release was about how I switched to a Fair Trade supplier in Bali even though it costs more than the people I was working with in India and Thailand.

I got the attention of a senior editor of a major trade magazine who was offended by my-calling Blood Diamonds a “red herring.” I wrote a long response to his protest. In the end, he really appreciated my point of view. I realize it was like playing with fire and fortunately, I was not burned. The release was picked up by JCK.

Here’s my press release for my Zero Carbon. I admit, it is a little zany, and I may modify it for certain editors who I know would not be into it, but for a general release, it might just catch the attention of some people.

Also, here are some press release services that we use:

http://www.prweb.com/

http://home.businesswire.com/

http://www.i-newswire.com/

http://www.24-7pressrelease.com/

http://www.pr.com/

After you release your info to these sites, go to Google alerts and trace where it gets picked up. Simply enter your search terms in the box provided and select how often you want updates. Google will then send you emails to the email you provide, with all instances of that search term being used for the time selected.

You can then go through them, one by one and see how many found you or someone else using that term. These are great because though they can take a little time to explore, they can be troves of marketing treasure. If you go about this, please come back to this site and share information, particularly if you are able to find more about going zero carbon. We are always looking for ways to improve.