The choices we make on a daily basis determine how large our carbon footprint is - a measure of the total amount of harmful greenhouse-gas emissions we produce as individuals. But changing our lifestyle is no mean feat. Carbon offsetting is attractive because it doesn't ask us to.

The amount of electricity we consume, the kind of car we drive, the type of food we eat, the number of times we travel in a year, all determine our contribution to climate change.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the most pervasive of the evil gases. Now that carbon is a hot commodity, carbon offsets have arrived in the public consciousness.

The idea behind carbon offsetting is that we make up for the amount of carbon we emit as a result of our daily activities by funding projects designed to 'absorb' carbon from the atmosphere, such as tree plantations.

As the impact of climate change increasingly makes headlines, with floods, freak weather conditions, rising temperatures, glaciers melting and sea levels rising, individuals are becoming increasingly sensitive to levels of energy consumption. And the free market has responded with a profit-making solution to quell mounting concerns.

In the past few years, more than a dozen carbon-neutral companies have been created to sell the promise that you can reduce your contribution to climate change, whether your contribution comes from commuting to work, catching a flight for a summer holiday, or just keeping the air conditioning running during those ever hotter summer months.

Some of the companies that provide a guilt-free conscience include Terrapass, Carbonfund, Nativeenergy, Driveneutral, Go Zero and My Climate. Google any of these names and you are on the road to being 'carbon neutral'.

Their websites include a carbon footprint calculator to measure your climate impact. It's extremely easy to use - fill in the blanks for your monthly electricity usage and the amount of miles you drive and fly per month and the calculator will estimate the total amount of harmful greenhouse-gas emissions that you produce. You are then given a choice of projects to fund that promise to help mitigate global warming.

A family can make up for a household's entire impact on the climate for less than what is spent on a decent dinner, and up pop a few trees in Africa to absorb the emissions of the next holiday. Presto, with a click of a mouse and a credit card number you can wipe out your impact on the climate. But all that glitters is not necessarily green.

The global carbon market was worth around $118 billion in 2008, rising 84 per cent from the previous year due to higher trading volumes and prices, research group New Carbon Finance said. It is a burgeoning and utterly unregulated industry of carbon claim stakers.

The projects they take on do not always deliver the benefits promised; at times, they create more harm than good. But it remains a concept that is easy to sell in a world where climate change is recognised as the biggest threat to global populations. Carbon offsetting presents an easy solution that avoids any compromise on energy-intensive lifestyles.

Its marketing value is so high that celebrities are scrambling to announce their carbon offsetting morals. The launch of Coldplay's album, A Rush Of Blood To The Head, made a big deal of announcing to the world that the production of the CD would be offset with 10,000 mango trees in Karnataka, India.

A report on its progress that appeared in the Sunday Telegraph stated that, of the 10,000 trees that were supposedly distributed to small farmers in this largely dry Indian state, only a few hundred were found to be still alive. The rest perished through lack of water and inadequate financial and infrastructure support.

A major problem with carbon offsetting is its logic: It's about paying for the right to carry on emitting carbon.

Such a scheme provides ample opportunity to give the impression of activity and mask the fact that very little happens in reality to address the fundamental issues of environmental degradation and rising carbon emissions.

Carbon offsetting is a seductive opportunity to pay off global warming sins but the best way to fight emissions is to prevent them in the first place, not offset them after they've occurred. The first thing is to reduce, and then if more can't be done, carbon offsetting is a potential way of addressing this issue.

As a concept, it does help raise awareness of the need to minimise consumption. The danger lies in accepting it as a 'licence to pollute'.

And if you do take up carbon offsetting, check the company's track record on successful projects before feeling confident that you've done your bit.

Some steps you can take to reduce your carbon footprint

Travel light

Walk or bike instead of driving a car - you'll save one pound of carbon for every mile you travel. If you have the time, be adventurous and take a bus; there's usually no limit to the entertainment provided by drivers.

If you have to drive, keep your tyres inflated, avoid idling, and avoid jack-rabbit starts and stops. You could save 300 pounds of carbon dioxide for every 10,000 miles you drive.

Change your bulbs

Use compact fluorescent light bulbs. These energy-efficient bulbs reduce the amount of fossil fuels that power stations burn. You will save 100 pounds of carbon for each incandescent bulb that you replace with a compact fluorescent, over the life of the bulb.

Turn it down

Heating and air conditioning draw more than half of the energy that a home uses.

Turn down the air conditioning when you leave the house or go to bed. Avoid leaving lights on in rooms that are not being used and make sure you turn your appliances off rather than leaving them on 'stand-by'.

Recycle and use recycled products

Products made from recycled paper, glass, metal and plastic reduce carbon emissions because they use less energy to manufacture than products made from completely new materials. For instance, you'll save two pounds of carbon for every 20 glass bottles that you recycle. Recycling paper also saves trees and lets them continue to reduce climate change naturally as they remain in the forest, where they remove carbon from the atmosphere.

Eat less meat and more vegetables

Producing one calorie of meat protein burns more than 10 times the fossil fuels, and emits more than 10 times as much carbon dioxide, as does a calorie of plant protein, according to University of Chicago researchers.

Act globally eat locally

The food you buy may travel in a plane from the other side of the world, burning fossil fuels the entire trip. Choose fresh local produce in season as much as possible.

Source: www.nature.org

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