Green Saturday: Carbon Neutrality

Carbon Neutrality is a subject which has interested me for a while. I saw a bumper sticker a while back (normally I don't like bumper stickers - a story for another day) that peaked my inerest. It said something like "This Car Is Emission Free!" with a website.

In the years since my children were born, I have made a fairly conscious effort to be as green as I could without skimping on what I consider necessities. (I still shower daily, use shampoo, use bleach, etc.) But Carbon Neutrality has always seemed like an easy way to reduce my personal impact on the planet. Just pay a small fee (see HERE for ecobusinesslinks.com's review of several carbon offset businesses) and you can either have trees planted or support the use of renewable power sources.

How much of a carbon footprint do YOU have? Check HERE to see the impact of your household!

Planning a wedding? Worried about the environmental impact of our event? Check HERE to see how you can offset by number of guests, those flying, down to the kind of hotel your guests are staying in. You can offset your rehearsal dinner, too!

Going on vacation? Worried about the emissions of the plane? www.ClimateCare.org allows you to offset a flight by letting you choose the airports and the number of passengers. Not ALL airports are available (ie, when offsetting my trip to Texas, I had to select LA instead of San Diego) but you can select flights from all over the world.

All things considered, the best way to reduce your CO2 is to REDUCE you emissions. Drive your car less, slow down for better mileage, open a window instead of using the AC. But for those necessary things like trips far away and just living, think about reducing your footprint with carbon offsets.