Carbon Offsetting
» Opportunities for Service » Carbon
Offsetting
Our quarterly beach cleanup and survey that we do with our friends at the Old & Abbey church, and others in our community, is a practical way that we show our care for this beautiful planet that God has given us as our home. When we collect the rubbish that has been washed up by the tide, we are compensating for the thoughtless actions of other people. However, we also need to look carefully at our own lives and do something about the impact that we have on the environment.
We may not be "litterbugs", but each time we turn on the TV, switch on the cooker, take a flight or drive the car, carbon dioxide (CO2 for short) is added into the atmosphere. CO2 is a greenhouse gas that is released when fossil fuels such as oil, gas and coal are burnt. We've all read about global warming and the disastrous effect this is having and will have in the future.
What can you and I do about this? Taking stock of how we live and making changes to our habits is a very important part of our stewardship of God's creation - walking more and driving less, or turning down the thermostat and dressing more warmly, are two examples. Reducing our "carbon footprint" on the earth is definitely the first step we need to take.
The second step is to compensate for our remaining CO2 production. This is called "carbon offsetting", and it means paying someone to reduce CO2 in the atmosphere by the same amount that your activities add. In this way you can 'neutralise' or 'balance' the CO2 added by your activities.
There are organisations that help you to do this in an easy and practical way - Climate Care is one example. Their website provides you with carbon offset calculators, which you can use to work out how much carbon dioxide you produce when you take your holiday flight to Majorca, for example, or drive your car 10,000 miles in a year. The calculators translate this into money terms, and then offer you the chance to help fund projects around the world. These can be in:
More and more companies are using this approach to be more environmentally friendly - for example, Avis and British Airways now offer their customers the opportunity to add their carbon offset contribution when they book a hire car or a flight, and British Gas does the same for their customers. The Co-operative Bank offsets 1 tonne of CO2 each year for each of their mortgage customers. Asking your energy provider or holiday booking agent if they do carbon offsetting is a very good way of spreading the message about environmental responsibility - companies listen to their customers!
We take from God's creation as we go about our daily activities, and it's only
right that we should put back too. Work out the size of your "carbon footprint"
before you take that summer holiday flight, or before you turn
on your central heating again. If you don't have access to the Internet but
would like to make use of the Climate Care calculators and projects, please
contact Linda McDonald, our community outreach worker, via the church
office. If you do use the Internet, head for the Climate
Care website soon!