Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Help! Need to Lose Two Tons Fast

So I just learned that I have a carbon score of 415 and must lose two tons of carbon output, just to put a mere 10% dent in my estimated individual carbon emissions. Ouch! And that's after taking into account that we don't even drive our car more than once a week. When I heard that Earthlab was providing Al Gore's Alliance for Climate Protection website with a carbon calculator, I decided to give it a test drive. There are quite a few out there, and I am still on the lookout for the ultimate user friendly model that my clients and colleagues can work with without much difficulty. Earthlab's Live Impact Calculator provided an interesting experience, since it satisfied the need for instant gratification on a key level: you get immediate info on how specific lifestyle changes reduce your carbon output plus you are encouraged to make a personal pledge to improve your carbon footprint. Most calculators just move you over to the 'buy offsets here' screen and send you on your way. Learning that, as a frequent flying business traveler, my carbon score is much higher than the average 325 score for Americans or 305 for Canadians and that I alone generate approximately 20 tons in emissions was depressing, to be honest. But I am now armed with info on how to behave my way out of the problem. And unlike any fad diets out there, at least I can 'offset' the weight that I can't lose entirely. Do you know your carbon score? Have any experience with reducing and offsetting your emissions that you would like to share?

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