You're
not just renting a car!
What can you do to help reduce
GLOBAL WARMING and your carbon footprint?
Should you just buy CARBON CREDITS?
What does CARBON OFFSET mean?
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What is Global
Warming?
Are Carbon Offset programs an
answer?
You probably have heard the terms
Carbon credits, carbon offset,
carbon footprint…
but what does all this mean?
And what should you do about it?
Carbon dioxide is a heat trapping gas.
When carbon dioxide is released it remains
in the atmosphere where it traps the heat
on the planet, much like a green house
does. But unlike a green house which
wants to heat up it's interior,
when the earth heats up unnaturally fast,
major problems are caused…
Fluctuations in the weather,
sea temperatures rise which cause
more major storms, plants grow at
different rates which causes havoc and
disaster for the pollinators and those
who depend on that plant for food…
etc…
When we use energy, whether it is
to
drive a car, heat our home, or even to use
the computer we are emitting carbon
dioxide. . When fossil fuels are burned,
they emit a highly concentrated amount
of carbon dioxide. The same goes for
when forests are stripped and burned
to make land for grazing cattle. Even those
grazing cattle emit high amounts of
methane, another gas responsible for a
major portion of global warming.
Basically everything we do has an
effect
on the planet. It is up to each one of us to
take responsibility for our actions, our
footprint, what we leave behind. We all
need to look at our lives and make changes
that are for the best of the planet and our
kids future.
There are many carbon offset
programs,
popping up all over, offering chances for
people to buy "credits" to help you "offset"
the carbon dioxide you are responsible for.
Putting it simply, carbon offset programs
tell us something like they will plant as
many trees as needed to 'offset' the carbon
dioxide, that "you" are using, say in driving
or flying a certain distance, or using
through electricity, etc….
Think about this…
They say a single tree can absorb up
to 2000 pounds of carbon dioxide over its
lifetime… so if plant 10 trees I am
"given" the right or am "absolved" to
burn the equivalence of 20,000 pounds
of Co2…
If you pay someone else to plant a
few
trees does that make it ok to burn as
much fossil fuel as you want?
While it is a very good thing to plant trees
and support organizations that are
working hard to protect the planet this way,
Most carbon Offset Programs are basically
another pacifier, aimed at those,
particularly the rich, who don't want to
actually change their ways, but don't want
the guilt that surrounds their
environmentally un-friendly standard of
living.
Think about it… what are the
actual
chances that those trees are going to
grow to maturity and live say,
a hundred or more years???
And what about the water it takes to
support the trees plus all the other
factors involved in growing a forest…
How likely are "your" trees going to make
it even a few years?
Yes we must plant more trees but
not as
an "okay" to continue our care-less lifestyle.
Americans are still buying huge
cars
and SUVs that get low gas mileage
and using that car to drive 20 miles
to a store just for a 6 pack of coke.
(How did that coke get to the store?
How did they mine the earth to get the metal
for the can, or make the plastic bottle?)
We are cutting down more trees then
we plant in this world!
That should worry you! We cut trees to
make more houses for this growing
population and their toilet paper demands
and disposable chopstick.
We cut trees for packing boxes for
unnecessary frivolous items.
We cut down a tree in our yard because it
"doesn't look right"… Do you really need
new cupboards because the Joneses did,
and the new style is in.
The planes that brought that Kiwi to you,
what did they run on? We absent mindedly
take the plastic bag they hand us at the
store…, that's made from burning fossil
fuels too. We are burning more trees to
plant crops to feed cows so rich societies
can eat meat..
Just because you pay dues to an
"eco"
club, and get their glossy magazine
each month, doesn't pardon you from
being a responsible human being.
Yes, support these groups, but you
must
change your lifestyle. Seek out the best,
most environmentally friendly options.
Demand high mileage fuel efficient or cars,
but still car pool, walk, or use your bike!
Support businesses that have true ethics
and not just out to make money…
Eat low on the food chain and purchase
what you can that was grown close to home…
Travel close to home or when you do
must travel look for the most earth friendly
options, Off grid bed and breakfasts,
biodiesel rental cars, yes they're out there!
Use buses…
Choose hikes over helicopters…
Demand 100% un bleached recycled paper
or tree free paper. Use both sides!
Stop using plastic anything!
Wars are fought for oil, oil spills happen
every day! There are hundreds and
hundreds of little things you can do
every day that really does matter.
Paying someone else to cover your
ways
doesn't make it ok to do whatever you want
… Yes, buy carbon offsets but do
absolutely everything else you can
for the planet first.
The world would be much better off
if
everyone took responsibility for their own
actions, and what those actions are doing
to the planet, instead of paying someone
else to supposedly do the dirty work for
you. Do you really need what you are
buying? Are their better choices out there?
Live it, don't buy it
