Carbon Neutralizing
23 12 2007
College of the Atlantic in the fair state of Maine, received the honor of being the first carbon neutral campus in the U.S. As you many know, this doesn’t mean that they have eliminated all carbon emissions, but rather have taken action to neutralize or offset all of the carbon they produce.
As one of the 450 colleges or universities to take the “net-zero” pledge, CAA says it spent around $25,000 offsetting 2488 tons of carbon over the last 15 months.
Over the summer, I endeavored to do the same, and I suggest if you should do something along the same lines if you can!
Honestly, I don’t know if there are better charities out there, but the one I used was The Conservation Fund. The Conservation Fund has a calculator where you can estimate the amount of carbon your lifestyle produces, and then donate money which they use to plant native trees, planting one tree for every $5 you donate. According to them, the tree planting will “address climate change, protect wildlife habitat and enhance America’s public recreation areas. Since 2000, The Conservation Fund has restored nearly 20,000 acres and planted more than 8 million trees through its carbon sequestration program. Over the next 100 years, these new forests will capture an estimated 9.5 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent from the atmosphere.”
Please visit the Conservation Fund “Go Zero” website for more information, or if you know of other, better charities to support, please let me know!!
PS Doesn’t the phrase “carbon neutralizing” sound like something a gun in an old sci-fi movie would do?
