How Do I Offset My Carbon Footprint?

“What is a carbon footprint?” “How do I offset my carbon footprint?” Do carbon offsets work?” 

These are questions that (thankfully) are being asked ever more frequently by people all over the world as the impact of humans on global climate change becomes apparent. Anthropogenic climate change (i.e. the portion of climate change that is caused by human activity) is one of the greatest risks to our planet and our global society as we know it. 

What is a Carbon Footprint?

Every day as you and other humans go about their daily lives, carbon dioxide is emitted into the atmosphere. This CO2 comes from direct activities such as burning wood or fossil fuels to heat a home, operating a motor vehicle with a combustion engine, or even simply breathing (although I do not recommend that you stop breathing in the name of environmental protection). Even if you do not burn any fuels directly, you still have a carbon footprint. 

For example, if you drive an electric car, you would not be burning fuel directly from that activity. However, if the electricity with which you charged your electric vehicle was generated in a plant fueled by coal or natural gas, then there are still significant emissions that result from your driving. 

Even if you never drive a vehicle, you still have a carbon footprint. The foods and other goods that you buy all have an energy cost of production and many of them were trucked, shipped, or flown many miles before they entered your home. 

It is definitely worthwhile to attempt to reduce emissions as much as possible, but it is a bit much to ask everyone to reduce their emissions to near-zero – it simply is not feasible. Not everyone can be like climate activist Greta Thunberg and sail across the Atlantic to avoid taking a carbon-emitting aircraft.

The average CO2 emissions per capita in the United States is over 16 tons. According to the Nature Conservancy, “to have the best chance of avoiding a 2℃ rise in global temperatures, the average global carbon footprint per year needs to drop under 2 tons by 2050.” To meet this goal, simply reducing emissions will not be enough, and that is where carbon offset providers like Green Future come in:

Net-Zero Emissions

With ever-increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) in our atmosphere, society must seek ways to draw at least as much of this greenhouse gas out of the atmosphere as we put into it. This concept is called “Net-zero” and companies and individuals that make a “Net-zero pledge” express their commitment to cause no harm to the global climate through an unchecked carbon footprint. The act of removing carbon from the atmosphere to counter emissions is called a carbon offset.

How Do I Offset My Carbon Footprint?

Being realistic, it is not feasible to reduce carbon emissions to zero without destroying the global economy. While humanity should pursue clean-energy initiatives, there will always be some emissions generated from human activity on Earth. Therefore, the only way to achieve a net-zero goal is to remove carbon from the atmosphere.

This process is called carbon offset and will be a critical activity on a global scale over the next centuries – removing carbon from the atmosphere is not a fad or a fleeting market trend; it is becoming a requirement for sustainable life on Earth as we know it. In order for the Earth to sustain a modern population of over 7.9 billion people, we must actively undertake initiatives to control the greenhouse gases in our atmosphere. 

Carbon Offset Methods

While emission reductions are absolutely necessary, the only feasible way to achieve a net-zero goal is to remove carbon from the atmosphere. This will be a critical activity on a global scale over the next centuries – carbon offset is not a fleeting trend and has no expiration date, since it is becoming a requirement for sustainable life on earth as we know it. In order for the earth to sustain a modern population of over 7.9 billion people, we must actively undertake initiatives to control the greenhouse gases in our atmosphere. Emissions reductions will also be necessary, but alone they will not suffice to combat a problem on such a massive scale.

Reducing emissions lessens future damage, but carbon capture actually reverses damage done in the past. This is why carbon capture is such a powerful tool. 

Existing and Proposed Carbon Capture Methods Include:

• Reforestation, Afforestation, and Forest Management
• Soil Carbon Sequestration (agricultural land management)
• CO2-enhanced oil recovery
• Growth and storage of microalgae
• Anaerobic digestion recycling
• … and more

Green Future’s Way = Nature’s Way

Of the existing carbon capture methods, one method stands tall above the rest – trees. 

Trees naturally pull a large amount of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere as they grow, storing the carbon in the wood that is produced. The vast majority of the stored carbon would only get released if the wood would be burned – if the tree eventually falls from natural causes, the carbon stays in the forest and eventually becomes part of the soil. Additionally, the leaves and other litter that is produced annually and falls to the forest floor also stores a significant amount of carbon in the forest biomass.

Therefore, the planting and proper management of large-scale forest plots are an excellent way to offset a carbon footprint. Aside from the benefit achieved by storing atmospheric carbon, planting trees on land that was previously bare or in agricultural use is excellent for wildlife and the entire natural ecosystem. 

Combating Climate Change in the United States 

Reforestation efforts and carbon capture in general have been gaining popularity around the world. Many efforts focus on preserving and reforesting areas in central Africa or in South America. These efforts are very important and are worthy of large-scale investment. However, there is an enormous untapped opportunity for carbon capture through reforestation in the United States. What if you have the more specific question, “How do I offset my carbon footprint locally?”

Hundreds of thousands of farmers and landowners in the U.S. possess areas of marginal farmland, unused pastures, reclaimed mines, and deforested lands. Many of these individuals would love nothing more than to have a healthy forest growing on that land, but cannot justify the input cost to plant trees on such a large scale. Green Future facilitates reforestation efforts on these lands, using these tree-planting projects to achieve businesses’ and individuals’ net-zero carbon goals. 

Make a decision to offset your carbon emissions today! Check out our carbon offset solutions for businesses and for individuals. 

Green Future’s reforestation projects provide carbon offset through natural, proven, and sustainable methods. Green Future supports the rural American economy by working with domestic businesses and individuals to complete projects and providing value-growing trees to farmers and other landowners.

When you ask “How do I offset my Carbon Footprint?” this is the answer: