Buy Your Way to a Greener Tomorrow

Here's an interesting concept I heard about on the radio a few weeks ago: carbon offsets, a measurement of metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent.

San Francisco's International Airport launched offset kiosks in September. Here's how they work: as you rush to your gate to catch an early flight for a New York afternoon meeting, you can use flysfo.com or one of the kiosks to calculate the carbon footprint of your flight. Using the carbon footprint number, travelers can learn how many carbon offsets would be required to compensate for their trip (VERs=Verified Emission Reductions). If the traveler is feeling guilty about their hefty carbon footprint, or wants to make the world a greener place, the traveler can contribute to those carbon offsets. According to the SFO press release:

"When the amount is set, 3Degrees, a local San Francisco carbon and renewable energy marketing firm that manages the Climate Passport kiosks, sources carbon offsets from The Conservation Fund’s Garcia River Forest Project and the San Francisco Carbon Fund, to ensure an equivalent amount of greenhouse gases has been reduced."

Basically, you're buying an offset through the kiosk, which is tangibly little more than a receipt. Offsets can include projects throughout the country and world supporting green efforts. Here's an interesting article from Budget Travel following three travelers who bought an offset; the reactions including vindicated, ambivalent, and ripped-off.

TerraPass.com, a carbon offset project, allows site visitors to buy carbon offsets. The site lists various projects in the U.S., including landfill gas-to-energy projects and wind energy facilities
(none of the projects listed were in Missouri, though).

Seems like a neat concept, created by free-thinking idealists. I wonder if an idea like this - paying for piece-of-mind - will take off. On one hand, travelers cannot see the effects of their $7.65 or $31.50, so why should they care? Then again, travelers can't necessarily see the effects of their round-trip airfare on the environment, so let's hope they care.

-Beth