Relieving green guilt

By Margaret Scott

There are times when, against our better judgment, we are not as gentle to the environment as we might hope to be. We drive to the store, run the air conditioner, fly to California, drink bottled water…the list goes on.

Sometimes, it feels like these things cannot be avoided. When this is the case and you are left feeling guilty long after the car has been parked in the garage or your California vacation has ended, there are ways to mediate the effects and assuage your guilt.

One way, called “carbon offsetting,” is used to balance the harmful effects of greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon offsets are a form of credit, often purchased by large companies in order to take responsibility for the harm caused by excessive travel, electricity use or other production outputs.

On the personal side, however, carbon offsets are most often used to compensate for the emissions associated with air travel. In purchasing a carbon offset, the buyer is typically investing in a project that seeks to reduce emissions, such as a wind farm.

The following websites offer opportunities for offsetting the effects of your activities that are most harmful to the environment, whether avoidable or otherwise. As this is in many ways an investment, it is important to consider the type of project to which your carbon offset will contribute.

▪ CarbonCounter
- the website’s main focus is carbon offsets - available to the individual or business

▪ CarbonFund
- detailed information on the CarbonFund projects, their partners, etc.
- background information on climate change, carbon offsets, etc.

▪ Environmental Defense Fund
- under the “What You Can Do” section, the website features a pollution calculator
- “Neutralize Your Pollution” information

▪ Native Energy
- Native Energy represents a slightly different type of organization as its projects are designed to “create sustainable economic benefits for Native Americans, Alaska Native Villages, family farmers and rural communities.”

▪ TerraPass
- offers a carbon footprint calculator
- also includes a store for “green products”