CARBON OFFSETS, BABY!

What does it meant to “carbon offset” your baby? Excellent question! The concept of carbon offsetting is a fairly new one, and many people don’t know what it means.

You, me, your baby and everyone else has a “carbon footprint” that has been formed by the activities in our lives which create the greenhouse effect. Things such as the exhaust from your car (or minivan), the airplanes you fly in, the emissions created to provide your home’s electricity, methane emissions from your garbage at the landfill, etc. It is the net amount of carbon added to the atmosphere by an individual’s activities and can be calculated to provide an approximation of one's effect on the carbon cycle.

 
You can reduce yours and your children’s carbon footprint size by using more carbon friendly products, driving fewer miles, using the “carbon balanced baby tips” provided on this site, etc. These reduce your carbon emissions, but they do not offset the emissions you will inevitably have.

 
In order to “offset” the imbalance an individual creates they must conduct an activity, or hire someone else to, which captures and/or contains an equivalent amount of greenhouse gas which is destined for the atmosphere. An individual can do this by planting a lot of trees, becoming involved in agricultural projects, reforestation and carbon reclamation activities. It’s a lot of work, but an individual can do things such as this to offset their carbon footprint.

 
A much easier, and more practical and effective, method of offsetting your carbon emissions is to purchase carbon offsets from a qualified provider. Carbon-balanced-baby.org strongly supports a consumer’s option to voluntarily purchase carbon offsets in order to balance their ecological impact. Many carbon offset companies provide a calculator where you can quantify your carbon footprint, then purchase the appropriate amount of carbon credits (usually in pounds or tons). These companies will then conduct offsetting activities, such as reforestation, renewable energy investment or methane gas reclamation and carbon credits trading in order to neutralize, or offset, that individual’s carbon emissions.

 
Which carbon offset company should you use? Check out this link which profiles several companies offering carbon offsets, their project types and verifications. Carbon-balanced-baby.org believes it is very important for consumers to check the credentials of the company they are considering purchasing from and encourage them to offset with companies who conduct projects specific to their carbon emission type (example: many of these companies offer offsets for your fossil fuel use by creating windmill farms or other renewable energy forms.) Carbon-balanced-baby.org is currently in the process of obtaining the proper certifications to provide offsets, for you and your baby, specific to projects which offset a baby’s greenhouse emissions. Please check back with us soon for more information.

What exactly is a "carbon footprint"? Click here for a detailed answer.