What Does Carbon Neutral Mean?
Wildfires, hurricanes, droughts, heatwaves, and floods are nothing new. Neither is climate change. It’s been happening for eons.
So why is the world up in arms about climate change now? Because in the last century and a half its pace has been accelerating at a speed that exacerbates weather events, making them more intense and more frequent.
This accelerated pace makes it more difficult for life on Earth – whether human, animal, or plant – to adapt. But why is the pace of climate change accelerating? Quite simply: human activity.
What are Greenhouse Gases & Carbon Footprints?
Whether we’re powering homes, driving cars, hopping on a plane, or buying food and clothes, greenhouse gases are being produced. These include methane, nitrous oxide, and the biggest culprit, carbon dioxide (CO2).
While carbon is being emitted on an individual level, it’s emitted on a larger scale by businesses and industries; and, of course, countries too, with China and the United States being the two biggest emitters in the world.
Whether made by one person, a conglomerate, or a country, our carbon-emitting activities make up what is known as our carbon footprint.
These contribute to what has become known as anthropogenic, or human-induced, climate change.
It impacts sea levels and weather patterns while increasing ocean acidification, and we see its devasting consequences in events such as the California wildfires and Hurricane Katrina.
Individuals, businesses, and countries have taken steps to adapt to and mitigate the effects of anthropogenic climate change.
On a global scale, 197 countries (including the U.S.) adopted the 2015 Paris Agreement, a treaty aimed at reducing global greenhouse gas emissions and limiting global temperature increase this century.
This has motivated countries, cities, and companies to work towards becoming carbon neutral.
What Does Carbon Neutral Mean?
To be carbon neutral is to produce net-zero carbon emissions, thus striking a balance between emitting carbon and absorbing carbon from the atmosphere.
This does not mean zero emissions are being produced: it means emissions are still being generated but they’re offset by the same amount elsewhere. To achieve carbon neutrality, you’d first need to know the size of your carbon footprint.
What Makes Up a Carbon Footprint?
Carbon footprints are made up of the total number of greenhouse gases emitted by an individual or entity.
These emissions – primarily coming from deforestation and the burning of fossil fuels – are absorbed and sequestered by carbon sinks such as forests and oceans.
However, humans are producing emissions at a rate that doesn’t allow natural carbon sinks to keep up.
As forests continue being cleared, not only are we getting rid of natural carbon sinks, but we’re releasing even more carbon into the atmosphere.
How to reduce carbon footprint?
How can we slow down this frenzied release of emissions? By reducing our carbon footprint.
From sustainable production and minimized consumption to living off the grid and being self-sufficient, various solutions have been sought to reduce our carbon footprint on an individual and group level.
But our fast-paced, modern-day lives playing out within a troubled socio-economic milieu, often make it improbable or impractical to reduce or eliminate carbon emissions. That’s where carbon offsetting comes in.
How to Offset Your Carbon Footprint?
By offsetting your carbon footprint you are essentially compensating for the carbon you’ve emitted.
To put it in simple terms, think of it as having two cookie jars: one pink and one blue. You crave a cookie so you steal one from the pink jar, but make up for it by adding a cookie to the blue jar: you’ve compensated for the one you stole from the pink jar by adding another to the blue jar.
Individuals and companies can play out the cookie jar scenario by investing in carbon offsets.
This allows you or a business to buy carbon credits. For every ton of carbon dioxide you or a business emits the same amount is absorbed from the atmosphere elsewhere.
Carbon offset programs aim at reducing carbon in the atmosphere or putting it back in the Earth through projects in forestry and conservation, as well as investments in clean and renewable energy.
Carbon Footprint Calculators
Numerous programs and apps help you track your carbon footprint and determine its size.
Data is collected and assessed by asking questions about flights, diets, energy use, and other carbon-emitting activities.
Carbon footprints are then calculated using formulas that multiply or divide your total annual emissions by various factors including the number of people in your family and how much land you use for living and working.
Suggestions are then made about how you can offset these emissions.
Here are a few carbon footprint calculators if you’re looking for a starting place.
However, decreasing our carbon footprint is complex enough without making it more of a chore by trying to track it every day. It can be a good jumping-off point to figure out which activities are contributing to your footprint and how you can adapt them.
Once you’ve made positive changes that become good habits, there’s no need to track them every day.
We can barely complete our to-do lists, never mind trying to calculate our carbon footprint every day. Instead of actively seeking carbon offset programs, focus on reduction and elimination.
Rather utilize carbon offsets through value-added services such as carbon neutral shipping or through integrated services within banks and airlines where offsetting options may be provided.
Carbon Offsetting Programs for Individuals
The sustainable clothing brand tentree has a fun interactive platform that is educational and easy to use based on your habits. I think the visual aspect of their platform is great for teaching kids.
Carbonfund.org is makes it easy and affordable for any individual, business or organization to reduce & offset their climate impact and hasten the transition to a clean energy future.
Native Energy’s carbon offsetting projects center around a collaborative community approach that promote sustainable initiatives such as regenerative agriculture and biodiversity.
What About Businesses? Are there Carbon-Neutral Companies?
Businesses, however, have a much greater impact through their heavier carbon footprints. It's reported that just 100 companies are responsible for 71% of carbon emissions identifying ExxonMobil, Shell, BP and Chevron as among the highest emitting investor-owned companies since 1988.
While businesses can implement many of the changes we make as individuals (such as driving and flying less, installing solar panels, or going zero waste), carbon offsets may need to be factored in.
Think what a difference it would make if these companies explored alternative energy solutions or offset their carbon footprints.
Offsetting may be the case when a business cannot operate without creating emissions and may not be able to implement positive changes immediately. In the interim, they move towards carbon neutrality by partaking in carbon offset programs.
However, carbon offset programs have many pitfalls. There are no rules on how many offsets can be used in a year, allowing companies to run rampant and continue emitting greenhouse gases.
Businesses may also be placed at risk by partaking in programs that misuse funds.
Choose a program that meets the environmental integrity criteria outlined by the EPA. Initiatives such a Gold Standard and Verra can help in choosing reputable programs.
Sustainable Carbon Neutral Companies
A few examples of carbon neutral companies include the following. The following links are affiliate links. If you decide to make a purchase The Honest Consumer will receive a commission.
Allbirds is a sustainable shoe and apparel company crafting products with planet-friendly natural materials, like merino wool and eucalyptus trees.
tentree makes Earth-First essentials using sustainable (and comfortable) materials such as TENCEL, recycled polyester, organic cotton, and hemp. Every time you purchase an item, tentree plants 10 trees. tentree is proud to be a certified B-Corporation and ethically crafts their clothing around the world.
Nisolo is a certified B Corporation crafting high quality, ethically made leather goods using socially responsible practices. Through their sustainable leather shoes, Nisolo uses sustainable practices such as eco-friendly waste disposal systems, leather byproducts from the meat industry, & carbon offsetting to craft leather goods that are meant to last a life time.
Are Carbon Offsets the Solution?
Carbon offsets may help us attain carbon neutrality as individuals or businesses.
But it is not a definitive solution to anthropogenic climate change; primarily because it allows us, and especially businesses, to continue producing emissions instead of reducing or eliminating them.
Let’s go back to the cookie jars for this: the pink jar has ten sugar-free cookies and the blue has ten chocolate-chip cookies.
I’m trying to be healthier, which means I need the sugar-free cookies.
If my friend steals a sugar-free cookie and compensates for it by adding a choc-chip cookie, I may be left with the same amount of cookies, but my health is not going to improve.
And so, in a resource-hungry world propelled by vast social and economic inequalities, we need to think carefully before reaching for the cookie jar.
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