You don’t have to wait for “Cap and Trade” to pass the US Congress to
embrace carbon neutrality. Carbon Credits are a responsible and cost
effective way to not only help produce non-oil energy projects, but
reduce your corporate costs, engage your employees and gain a Green
Marketing advantage over your competitors.
Reduce, Recycle and
Reuse are the first part, and below I’m going to give you 5 ways to do
it. But if you can’t, don’t want to, or would rather just write a check
then understand Carbon Credits.
Offset Your Carbon Footprint with Carbon Credits
While
Reducing, Reusing and Recycling is key in preventing climate change,
offsetting your carbon emissions is the next great step in the
preservation of our environment for generations to come. The Carbon
Calculator Math is below, or you could use a Carbon Footprint
Calculator at (www.ecoaidnow.com/Calculators.aspx
To
offset your carbon emissions simply means to neutralize your part in
the polluting of our environment. In technical terms, a carbon offset
is a certificate representing the reduction of one metric ton (2,205
lbs) of carbon dioxide emissions.
Certified Projects are
developed such as a reforestation project that reduces carbon dioxide
emissions, every ton of emissions reduced will result in the creation
of one certified carbon offset.
Since carbon dioxide emissions
are the principal cause of climate change, purchasing carbon offsets is
key to promoting a greener environment.
When you offset your
personal carbon emissions, you are doing your much-needed part in
helping to put an end to global warming and climate change. In addition
to making the world a better place, you just might also score a few
popularity points with your friends and family.
Here’s 4 ways to save money while reducing your carbon footprint.
(1)
Recycle Toner and Ink Jet Cartridges. These things, which always run
out at the most inopportune time, cost way too much and, contrary to
what the big companies than manufacture them proclaim with their “send
it in recycling programs” – end up in the landfill, usually in the
poorest areas of the world. The technology and quality of recycled
toner and ink jet cartridges in many cases surpasses the original
equipment manufacturers…and you get to support a local business like
yours when you patronize them. And don’t forget to set your printers to
“draft” mode when you’re not printing for official
communications…it’ll save you money and toner/ink.
(2) Use
Less and Buy Recycled Paper. Back in the early 90′s when email was
gaining popularity we all proclaimed that it was the beginning of the
paperless office. But the paper companies weren’t scared. Paper sales
went through the roof because now we had more information to print out,
copy and share with each other. Now there are a variety of document
sharing services, including free ones like Google Docs, while allow
immediate sharing of and collaboration of documents without having to
print out 5 copies for the group to mark up. It saves money, time and
is much more efficient.
Furthermore, as the quality of recycled
content paper has gone up to photo quality level and the cost has gone
down to below the cost of “new” paper, it clearly makes no sense not to
include the procurement of recycled printer and copier paper in your
corporate sustainability plan.
(3) Go Paperless with your
invoices. PayPal and Google Checkout both have electronic invoicing
capabilities for those of you who process payments via credit card, and
for many companies, their PayPal and Google Checkout accounts are tied
directly to their corporate checking accounts for seemless, and
transaction fee free payment processing. They both offer a variety of
export formats and integrate with popular accounting packages like
QuickBooks and Microsoft Accounting.
No more 3 copy carbon based invoices, no gas guzzling postmen delivering the mail and no more licking envelopes!
(4)
Recycle Everything. Soda cans, newspapers, used equipment, furniture
and materials (if you’re manufacturing things) all carry a price.
Aluminum cans trade for around $.80 a pound (32 12 ounce cans = 1
pound) – so figure you can sell them to a local recycler for a bit
better than half of that. Doesn’t sound like a lot, but when you have
an office full of Red Bull crazed employees or “Diet Coke Fiends” it
can actually add up relatively quickly.
List your used
equipment on Craigslist or Google for a local company that will pick up
and “recycle” your used equipment – or better yet, donate it to a local
charity and take the tax deduction. Goodwill and the Salvation Army
will send out a truck to pick up larger items and most likely make
weekly or monthly trips through your area.
The Challenge is not
so much Global Climate Change, but more of a personal one. Do we want
to live in a clean world or a dirty one! Do we want to be subject to
wars over fossil fuels? Are we, as individuals, stewards of business,
operators of government, and elected officials, willing to take action
to right the environmental wrongs we might create? The global becomes
personal.
Buying Carbon Offsets is one way to deploy our
resources towards a better Future. The best first step is to always
think about the very real consequences of your actions. Protecting our
air and water isn’t something that can be taken care of by someone
else, we have to do it for ourselves.
To take an active role in neutralizing your carbon emissions today use our individual carbon calculator (www.ecoaidnow.com/Calculators.aspx).
Dr. Ken Pollock is EcoAid’s Chief Executive Officer, sets the strategy for the company. www.ecoaidnow.com Read more of his articles at http://buycarboncreditsandoffsets.com. In addition, he recently launched http://carbonprofessionalschool.com
in the near future to provide the training and tools for individuals,
businesses and institutions. He has a PhD in Chemical Engineering.
