2020-03-01_Wanderlust

166 wanderlust.co.ukMarch 2020

DISCOVER ADVICE

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How to

OFFSET

YOUR CARBON

FOOTPRINT

The cost of travel

As the climate crisis

looms ever larger,

we all have to do our

best to pitch in

TOPTIP

Takelonger

butlessfrequent

 lights, lydirect,

travelineconomy

class,choose

greenerairlines

andkeepyour

luggagelight–

thiscanallhelp

toreduceyour

carbonemissions.

Aviation accounts for 2.5% of
global carbon emissions, but we
don’t want to discourage readers
from exploring the world. Carbon
o
setting can go some way to help
us reduce the e
ects that our
travels on the environment.

Many conscientious travellers ind
carbon o
setting confusing, but
it’s really quite simple. It’s a way of
‘making up’ for CO2 produced as
a result of your actions (lying in
this instance). Some airlines and
online companies let you buy
o
sets when you book your light,
but if you do it yourself you can
choose where your money goes.
First, calculate the amount of
CO2 given o
by your decision to
ly – this can be done via websites
such as carbonfootprint.com.
Enter your trip details (length and
mode of transport, for example,)
and it will work out your carbon
footprint (units of metric tons
ofCO2emitted).

You can then compare possible

o

 set schemes and invest in

a project that reduces CO2 levels

by the same amount or more,

usually environmental projects in

developing countries aimed at

soaking up CO2 or avoiding future

emissions. Many projects have

traditionally involved planting

trees, but after criticism

concerning the quantiiability of

the results, o

 set programmes

now tend to revolve around clean

energy projects – distributing

e† icient cooking stoves or low

energylightbulbs–projectswith

quicker savings, and an added

social beneit to local communities. 

To avoid scams, make sure the

scheme has a clean energy

certiicate from a third-party,

such as one from Green-e.

Veriied o

 set companies worth

considering include NativeEnergy.

The e

 ectiveness of projects is

di† icult to judge, but the main

takeaway is to not use carbon

o

 setting as an excuse to ly

more, but instead as an attempt

to be greener and ind a balance

when it comes to travellingand

protectingtheenvironment.

Find out what kind of carbon o setting

projects you can invest in.

●Energy e† iciency: Save energy and

avoid future emissions by switching

fuel. Projects to support include funding

fuel e icient stoves and clean drinking

water programmes, which reduce wood

fuel consumption.

●Forestry: A number of projects focus on

soaking up the CO2 directly by planting

trees and working to protect forests.

Unfortunately saplings don’t soak up a lot

of CO2, so it would take a long time to

have any e ect; however longer-term it is

still helping to o set our actions.

●Methane capture: CO2 is not the only

greenhouse gas to worry about. Methane

is much more powerful and it’s released

when organic waste breaks down.

Capturing methane from land€ill sites

can also help o set carbon emissions.

●Renewable energy: Funds towards

wind farms, hydroelectric and

geothermal power plants

and solar projects are aimed

at saving energyand

avoiding future

emissions by

investing

in renewableenergy instead.

These optionsarecurrently

thought tobequicker and more

permanent solutions.

Green Projects