What is carbon neutral?

Being carbon neutral is essentially reaching (and hopefully maintaining) a perfect balance between what you (or your company, organization or event) consume and what you give back to the earth. Specifically, it focuses on energy and carbon dioxide emissions. If you (including your utility supply company) consume energy from traditional sources (such as petroleum, coal, and other fossil fuels) you are releasing a measurable amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. To be carbon neutral, the aim is to replace such energy sources with sustainable and renewable energy such as wind, water, solar, and biofuels. By replacing even a portion of your energy source away from fossil fuels, you are decreasing your “carbon footprint” (the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere) left on the world. Only when you contribute no carbon dioxide via energy sources (don’t stop exhaling; that doesn’t count against you) can you achieve true carbon neutrality.

What is carbon offsetting?

Another concept often associated as the kid-brother of carbon neutral is carbon offset. Hard-core environmentalists will challenge that there is a solid difference between the two concepts and true carbon neutrality (as explained above) is the best for the future of the planet. So, what’s the difference and why should it matter if they both help the world?

As a practice, carbon offsetting is a means to achieve carbon neutrality in that you (or your company, organization, or event) strive to decrease your consumption of fossil fuels but if you cannot do so entirely for whatever reason, you then find alternative measures to offset your carbon dioxide emissions. To achieve the balance through offsetting, you can plant trees (or make a donation to a company or organization that does this for you), contribute to a carbon project that aims to reduce and eventually prevent greenhouse gas emissions in the future, or to outright purchase carbon credits to cancel out your imbalance. These credits help develop and fund renewable energy programs. In the past (yes, the concept has been around for over a decade), these credits were marketed to and purchased by companies with a desire to ease their impact on the earth. Nowadays, individuals and families are getting involved and purchasing credits, especially when all their attempts to reduce carbon emissions just aren’t enough to go totally neutral.

What can I do to be carbon neutral?

Of the many companies out there that are now promoting their carbon offset programs to individuals and families, one company, Smart About Carbon (www.smartaboutcarbon.com), grabbed my attention when I visited their web site the other day. By offering to calculate the carbon dioxide levels my household generates, I began to explore my own carbon footprint. The process took about two minutes, entering my approximate energy consumption from my home (electricity, heat, air conditioning) as well as my car (number, size, type, miles traveled). Even for the questions I didn’t have specific numbers for they