A mind-boggling array of human actions in the contemporary Western world ultimately results in a net production of carbon. Oil companies and automakers aren’t the only ones to blame; in many cases we need look no further than our fingertips, our desktops, our homes, to find a cause of climate change. The average American residential home produces 35,000 pounds of greenhouse gas every year; when dealing with staggering numbers like these, it becomes clear that no matter how many light bulbs we change, every time we use electricity, extra human-produced carbon dioxide is pumped into the atmosphere.

Every electrical device draws power from the grid, which, in the United States and most other countries, means burning fossil fuels. Heating and air conditioning are both major contributors. Even the fruit and vegetables we eat are trucked across the country, and this requires the use of fossil fuels. The display monitors on which you’re reading these words are drawing power from the grid. Envision a chain of cause and effect, straight from your eyes to the power plant belching steam and CO2, and you begin to see how entangled we all are.

An individual’s, or a company’s, contribution to this mass of gas is called their carbon footprint. Even if you think you’re living responsibly, you might be surprised at the impact your decisions make on the atmosphere and the environment. A great carbon footprint calculator is available by visiting: www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.html

Covering Your Tracks – Carbon Offsets

This puts humans who care about climate change in a predicament. While a few extreme voices might call for a halt to all non-emergency air travel and an end to all electrical power consumption beyond what we can generate with wind and solar capacities, it seems clear that in order for our society to make an orderly transition from one power source (fossil fuels) to other, more diverse, less harmful ones will require all the resources of an affluent civilization and an active industrial base.

So, what’s a human that cares about helping fix the climate change problem to do? There are a wide variety of options, and while none of them are perfect, taking advantage of a few of them that seem reasonable to you can help make a huge difference in our society’s collective carbon footprint.

Green Tags

Green tags, also known as Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) or Tradable Renewable Certificates (TRCs), are economic devices that consumers can buy to encourage carbon-mitigating activities that offset their necessary carbon-producing choices. In states which have a green tag program, for example, a green energy provider (such as a wind farm) is credited with one green tag for every 1000 kilowatt*hours of electricity it produces. A certifying agency gives each green tag a unique identification number to make sure it doesn't get double-counted. The green energy is then fed into the electrical grid (by mandate), and the accompanying green tag can then be sold on the open market, usually to green tag clearinghouses like Bonneville Environmental Association, a company that connects alternative energy providers and tree growers with clients who care about climate change but who can’t switch off of fossil fuels in the near-term. This uses economic pressure in a positive direction, driving demand for alternative energy in geographic locations or business sectors where they might not otherwise be available. It lets money that might otherwise go to fossil fuel producers flow in the direction of alternative energy and forestry. Renewable energy is still a little more expensive than buying traditional power so green tags are purchased in addition to the electricity that you are now using. But, in theory, buying green tags has the same effect as buying green power. Both replace fossil fuel generators with clean renewables, and both have exactly the same environmental benefits.

A highly-publicized incident of green tagging occurred recently when Whole Foods bought wind power credits for the fueling of each and every one of its stores by wind power. Wal*Mart, too, recently made moves towards purchasing wind power for a great number of its stores. Wal*Mart and companies like it, which have both a GDP and carbon emissions far larger than many small countries, stand to make important contributions to the health of the planet with steps like these.

If you're interested in purchasing green tags for your home or business, Green Tags USA is a great place to start. They sell affordable offsets to individuals who want to make quick and meaningful cuts in their annual carbon emissions.

Green Power

Many power companies, including ConEdison, offer “green” options on monthly electric bills. By checking a box and enrolling in special programs, customers may pay an extra fee per kilowatt*hour and have the peace of mind that their money will purchase power from renewable resources, not standard CO2 producing coal fire plants.

For New Jersey residents, visit www.njcleanpower.com
For New York residents, visit: www.nypirg.org/energy/green_electricity/green.html
If green power is not offered by your utility company, you can contact the Bonneville Environmental Foundation to see what other options you might have: Bonneville Environmental Foundation

Other Ideas

Other schemes for mitigating your own carbon impact have taken off in the past few years. Treeflights.com sells green credit designed to offset the carbon impact of purchasing airline travel. When you pay their fee in tandem with purchasing air travel, you are assured that Treeflights.com will plant one long-lasting tree in a forest in Wales. Though it will take, by their calculations, eighty years, that tree will ultimately intake, process, and sequester the carbon produced by our share of the air flight.

For links to websites that provide more information, click here to visit our links section.