© It’s the Planet 2008

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What is Offsetting?

The modern global industrial economy is built on the abundant energy provided by fossil fuels. Most of the products we buy and provision of the services that we use result in the emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases (GHGs).  

Nevertheless, it is possible to compensate for the carbon emissions you produce by ensuring that an equivalent amount is saved or absorbed elsewhere. Such schemes generally involve either renewable energy technology (e.g., solar or wind power), improved energy efficiency (e.g., such as low-energy light bulbs), or storing carbon in soils and biomass (e.g., by planting trees or changing land-use practices), to create a source of carbon credits.  These can then be used offset your calculated carbon footprint. Above all, it is important to use high quality carbon credits, which ensure the long-term future of your commitment.

“Greenwash”

Some questions have been raised in the media about the role of offsetting, suggesting that it could be a convenient way out which allows us to continue business as usual and to delay real changes at home or in business that would move society towards a low-carbon economy.  In other words, it has been accused of “greenwash”.  

This is a valid point and offsetting should not be used as a substitute for actively reducing or eliminating greenhouse gas emissions in other ways first.  Simply by living on the earth we have an impact – we leave not only our carbon footprint but our ecological footprint - a measure of how much consumption of nature our lifestyles require.  Whereas our ecological footprint was once small, now with our technology and consumer society, it is large and unsustainable - that is why offsetting should be used to compensate for the carbon emissions which are unavoidable by any other means.

Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Recycle, Relocalise - then Offset

When we look at the industrial processes that support us we can see that we use natural materials and energy to produce things which largely end up being thrown away or as other pollution. All this ‘stuff’ that we have and use also comes with an energy cost. We can have a large impact on our carbon (and ecological) footprint by adopting a hierarchy of strategies for dealing with waste, then offsetting the rest:

Refuse: to decide not to engage in the consuming action or task in the first place where it is not necessary.

Reduce: to minimise the materials and energy required or the frequency of the consuming action.

Re-use: either reuse for the same purpose or put to the next best use.

Repair:  to use  skill and very limited additional resources to restore function.

Recycle: to break down into more basic materials before being reprocessed for the same or other uses.

And ,finally, offset your remaining carbon footprint! Having taken these personal steps, why not Relocalise, by joining a transition or relocalisation group to prepare your community for energy descent after peak oil? It’s fun and gives you a say in your future.

Applying these principles should go a long way to reducing your carbon footprint and, although recycling comes lower down the list (because some energy is required), our carbon calculator takes good recycling habits into account.  

And there’s one other thing: you could be going a step towards greater resilience - with the likelihood of ‘peak oil’ and the windfall of all fossil fuels coming to an end just over the horizon the reality is that we are moving now onto the path of energy descent.

The Story of Our Stuff and Running the Numbers

If you have not yet seen The Story of Stuff (a fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns) please give it a try, it’s fascinating!  In Running the Numbers, photographer Chris Jordan creates images of the enormity of our consumption which statistics alone cannot really convey.