Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Travel Offsets

Starting to plan your summer trip but still want to factor in your greenness? Consider something more closer to home where you can easily and efficiently travel by car or have a train trip adventure!

I want to visit my sister...or have her come out to LA. The sistaXhood have been physically separated too long (and I'm sure our mother misses Z's face, too). Mother's Day? Memorial Day? As much as I love train trips, a train trip up north isn't worth it over a 3-day weekend. Boo. Same goes for a bus trip, if I ever decide to go that route. Driving is feasible but I hate having to deal with a car in SF. Plus, the reason I go up to SF is to enjoy their convenient public transport. Plane it is, as per usual, but it's definitely not the greenest option. But however you decide to travel, take the extra step in offsetting your carbon emissions via NativeEnergy

Along with scoping out airline ticket prices I've also been calculating how much carbon my trip would be emitting/contributing into the atmosphere.


Once on the site, click on "Travel Calculator" (the second box with that plane picture) and pick your travel method of choice. According to Native Energy my round-trip flight to SF would be about 696 miles total. My carbon emissions? 0.278 tons.
Cost to offset my carbon emissions? A mere $12. This will go towards funding renewable energy sources to counter your pollution like wind power, farm methane, or a combo of the two. Not too shabby a price to pay for carbon neutrality, if you ask me. I'd be paying double though, to offset on my mother's behalf if she were coming along.

It's really neat, convenient, and practical. You can even calculate your work commute, emissions your home energy, and general lifestyle! (Click the 'individual' tab).

Definitely use this for any of your travel plans and your everyday living! And if you're flying, some airlines have carbon emission offset programs of their own so check those out if they're available!

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