Carbon Calculator to Carbon Offset

One Stop Shopping: Carbon Calculator to Carbon Offset

Tired of hear about greenhouse gases and emissions? By now you have probably heard about the link between carbon emissions and global warming. Fortunately and possibly unfortunately, depending on which side of the issue you fall, conversations around greenhouse gas and carbon emissions are becoming more mainstream. Not only are individuals starting to take ownership of their carbon footprint but also businesses are starting to take ownership of their carbon footprint to.

 The EPA states that global emission trends have been on the rise and have increased over 16 times since the early 1900’s which puts the US falling slightly behind China with 19% of the global total CO₂ emissions. It averages to about 17.3 metric tons per capita. The result is carbon emission regulation policies are becoming more impactful and the EPA has even proposed a Carbon Pollution Standard for new power plants. Once these regulations pass, there will be the inevitable trickle down to regulations that effect everyday citizens and the choices we make each day. This is just one example of on-going trends to create cleaner and safer practices by reducing company’s carbon emissions and pollution. 

How do greenhouse gas emissions relate to you? Our individual carbon footprint is caused by the emissions we create through our everyday actions. Actions can include:

• Land- How much land you own and forestry practices
• Buying habits- Where your products are coming from and how they are made
• Utilities- How much you use
• Food choices- Farm practices and the distance food travels
• Transportation choices- Driving, carpooling, flights, public transportation etc…

These actions are all linked to the carbon dioxide released from burning fossil fuels. For example, one acre of forest would counter emissions of approximately 2.7 cars and 223 trees would counter emissions created by a child watching 3 hours of TV every day for 18 years.

How does one go about discovering their individual carbon footprint?  The good news is that it is getting easier and easier to find out this information. Using a carbon calculator is a great way to quickly and easily determine your overall impact and find out which areas of your life offer the easiest CO₂ savings. 

Not sure that your effort will really make a difference? Not true! According to the EPA, recycling just 10 aluminum cans saves enough energy to power 1.7 hours of an air conditioner! Recycling only 38 magazines saves enough energy to power 10.6 hours of a computer laptop. If you want to take responsibility for the greenhouse gases you emit, start by analyzing the big carbon offenders i.e. utilities and travel. 

Instead of calculating your emissions and then trying to find a credible carbon offsetting project, here are steps for a one stop shop:

Step 1: Look at a one year timeline:

• Gather your utility bills
• Estimate miles driven
• Find the number of round trip flights you have taken

Step 2: Figure out your average utility bill for the year and approximate hours for each of your flights. 

Step 3: Enter this information into the *MBCF calculator or a calculator of your choice. 

Step 4: Hit the calculate button. This number represents the total number of your carbon emissions for one year. 

Step 5: Decide if you want to offset (subtract) your carbon emissions by purchasing carbon credits. 

Step 6: If you decide to make a purchase, click the “Buy Now” button, it will take you directly to your PayPal account where you can complete your purchase. 

* Why choose the MBCF calculator? All proceeds go directly to local projects that reduce carbon emissions in the Monterey, CA area. All MBCF projects offer student job training and are creating real jobs locally. If you want additional information, please click on any of the resources below. 

References:

David Suzuki Foundation: http://davidsuzuki.org/what-you-can-do/reduce-your-carbon-footprint/go-carbon-neutral/

The Boston Globe: http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2012/12/03/global-emissions-carbon-dioxide-hit-record-high/21tbuKCZkWTGrsP5CVDNYM/story.html

EPA: http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/global.html, http://epa.gov/carbonpollutionstandard/pdfs/20120327factsheet.pdf, http://www.epa.gov/wastes/conserve/rrr/

 

Sustainable Shipping

By Jennipher Murphy, Novice Explorer

Travel and tourism have, for some time, offered customers an option to offset their carbon and now shipping has joined the sustainability initiative. UPS just announced expansion of their carbon neutral shipping program. What does this mean? Starting July 12, a customer can purchase offsets to neutralize carbon created from shipping their packages. UPS calculates the carbon (CO2) impact created from the individual customer’s shipment and then charges between .05-.75 cents per package to offset this carbon. The customer chooses whether or not to participate in this program. These offsets are purchased from Garcia River Forest Climate Action Project, a company overseen by The Nature Conservancy and The Conservation Fund. 

Is UPS reducing their own carbon emissions as well as offering this opportunity to their customers or is this just another business marketing ploy? According to their website, UPS takes their leadership role seriously and fully accepts ownership of their responsibility to minimize impact. This is described in detail in their environmental philosophy where they list alternative fuel fleets, lighting upgrade projects, recycling and e-waste programs as part of the reduction plan. Upon further investigation, it does appear that they are committed to this environmental policy by following through with initiatives. One example shown in a 2008 press release , announces that UPS purchased hydraulic hybrid vehicles, making this move a first in their industry. Another example is UPS helping customers reorganize delivery routes through a computer software program offered by a UPS subsidiary, UPS Logistics Technology, making routes more efficient, saving miles and gas. Balancing the reduction of carbon emissions with purchasing offsets can lead to sustainable delivery practices.

The Offset Project supports ideas like this but when businesses market their “green” strategies, as consumers, it is important to verify that the business is reducing their own carbon emissions before jumping on the carbon offset bandwagon.

Buzzword- Sustainability

Buzz Word- Sustainability

By Kristin Cushman

I read an article recently that got me thinking about sustainable communities.  In the article “Obama’s Partnership for Sustainable Communities” a new government partnership formed that is focusing on sustainable communities that offer more “walkable” downtowns and “cleaner” commuting options. The partnership calls for a distribution of power that “encourages different regions to connect their residents in ways that make sense locally”. This spoke to me. Finally, the government is thinking logically and realizing that one-size does not always fit all.

Sustainability is a buzz word around the country but does it mean the same thing to everyone? Look at how this organization uses the word, http://www.bluegrass.com/blog/. They started with small steps and a focus on recycling. I agree, even small changes make a great difference. Do we stop and think where that plastic bag blowing in the street will end up? Do we think about the purchases that we are making and how much energy was expended to get that product to the shelf? For me, sustainability is about keeping in touch, putting things in perspective.  If we are mindful of how we are affecting the planet in our every day actions, then perhaps we will make changes.

My sustainable community would include educating ourselves on polluting and wasteful practices and turning ourselves towards solutions. I believe fighting for the environment and restoring it where we can, to be critical for the success of the community. A sustainable community also means involving the members who live in the area and providing economic opportunities. Here at The Offset Project, the staff and volunteers are working tirelessly to be part of the solution. We are busy educating the community about carbon offsets, restoring the environment by planting trees and joining together a network of businesses and organizations to use resources more efficiently.

I am hopeful for our future as more communities start working together locally to make a difference. What does your sustainable community include?

Check out this article to find out how you can start a sustainable framework in your community  http://www.transitionus.org/

Check out Monterey Bay Offset Fund to see solutions they are developing for Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties.

Across the Country- Carbon Offset Actions

By Jennipher Murphy, Novice Explorer


This is a busy time of year here in Monterey with marathons, festivals and the Grand Prix. Sometimes I forget that there are many other organizations across the country dedicated to offsetting carbon emissions as much as we are so I was excited to stumble upon this entry in Renewable Energy Magazine!

In 2007, Google committed to becoming a carbon neutral company and Blue Source, a ten year old nationwide company that has developed North America’s largest portfolio of carbon offsets, is partnering with them to “register third-party verified credits created by the project and placing them on the Climate Action Reserves public registry”.  The credits are created by capturing gas emissions from the landfill and converting it to electricity. Google then purchases these credits at market value. The project between Blue Source and Google Inc. is innovative and an overall impressive plan because the partnership doesn’t just focus on the purchase of the credits but also involves utility companies, local governments and the private sector. Getting all of these stakeholders on-board is critical for a successful program. Kudos to Google and Blue Source!

My big question now is how can the project be enhanced to make it even better? Is Google planning on purchasing all of their carbon offsets through the South Carolina utilities or are there plans to expand this effort locally to each individual Google office? I believe the wave of the future is to create more local grassroots initiatives. This in turn, creates incentives in making carbon emission reductions a reality while helping spur economic development. It is more of a sustainable alternative to purchasing credits because it involves various stakeholders and creates local jobs. Having more high profile companies like Google Inc. commit to reducing emissions will only benefit the industry by creating awareness. It’s a win-win!

Check out this video of a local Monterey effort by Monterey Waste Reduction Management District (MWRMD) on how they are selling their extra methane electrical to PG &E.

Waste Prevention

By Jennipher Murphy, Novice Explorer

Here at The Offset Project, we work diligently to provide local venues with zero waste management. This includes recycling and composting efforts at many of the premiere special events on the Monterey Peninsula and is done by working closely with event organizers and promoters in the planning of their events. We help reduce their carbon footprint by making the most sustainable choices possible. A lot goes into zero waste management and there are pros and cons to the way we choose to recycle and compost at these events. We are constantly struggling with the choices we need to make while balancing the rewards and successes. As we reflect on our efforts, there are always ways to improve and the secret is to identify our challenges and barriers and to find ways to continually advance our process.

One of our biggest challenges is making sure that the materials that are placed in the recycling and composting bins are items that are correct and not contaminated. The bane of our recycling efforts is “contamination” which are items that are mixed in with the correct items; for example food left over on the recyclable or grease deposits on cardboard etc…. This makes processing more difficult and expensive and can actually decrease the value of the recyclables. Some businesses are turning towards “3-Dimensional Recycling Signs” as a great tool to inform individuals of the proper way to recycle and they place them right at the source. This could be quite helpful but we have gone a step further by having our Zero Waste volunteers manning these bins, answering questions guests have or quickly correcting mistakes in the bins. We also feel that because are bins are very specific, it allows individuals to place items correctly which decreases our time spent on sorting. Another way we are meeting this challenge is to involve a larger participating group, the Zero Waste team, which cuts down on the incorrectly placed items and at the same time, increases our education efforts.

The Offset Project practices these initiatives at every event but we are still falling short. We feel we are still spending too much time correcting guest’s practices so we have begun looking at waste prevention as a way to improve. Waste prevention is simply creating less waste by consuming and disposing less which can decrease the amount of incorrectly placed items and save businesses and events a ton of money. Waste prevention is synonymous with reuse and reduce. We are discovering that planning ahead is one of the most important steps to a zero waste event. Events can be so hectic that event coordinators end up running around putting fires out and spend less time overseeing proper composting and recycling efforts. The planning process is not only about using compostable flatware, plates and napkins but we have come up with a list of other items in our pre-planning checklist:

• Identifying the biggest % of waste produced and setting goals. Is it bottled water or food?
• Communicating waste reduction goals to all stakeholders and getting everyone on-board.
• Defining materials needed for the event and looking at alternatives such as serving bite-sized foods that require no utensils.
• Choosing green vendors.
• Reducing paper usage.
• Educating guests about zero waste efforts beforehand.

The event promoters need to champion their green messaging by ensuring that their internal culture is on board and TOP needs to support them. As we continue expanding our outreach and efforts there will inevitably be more challenges and even more improvements. Please take a moment to share with us other ways we can improve the planning phase by commenting on this blog! Thank you for sharing.

For more information on recycling at events: http://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/ and

 http://earth911.com/how-to/how-to-recycle-at-your-earth-day-event/