See the Planet While Easing Your Carbon Footprint

This weekend, I’m flying to Mexico City, the starting point of a trip to the monarch butterfly reserves in the fir forests of the central highlands, where millions of these delicate orange-and-black creatures spend the winter.  I’m looking forward to sharing my experiences with you on my return.

In the meantime, though, my flight is going to increase my personal carbon footprint significantly, in just a few hours’ time.  The 2,987-mile round-trip from Denver to Mexico City generates 1,304 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions per passenger – more than half a ton — equivalent to burning 67 gallons of gas.  That’s enough to keep me driving for almost three months.  Air travel is one of the worst culprits in speeding the pace of global warming, and the numbers of flying passengers are growing every year.

There is a way to see the planet and ease one’s environmental impact and conscience, however, by purchasing carbon offsets that neutralize the effect of airplane emissions.  Companies like TerraPass (www.terrapass.com) sell such credits to reduce CO2 emissions elsewhere, by funding industrial efficiency to increase conservation, and renewable energy projects such as wind farms, which in turn reduce future fossil fuel demands.

I was able to estimate my flight emissions using TerraPass’s online calculator.  It takes the number of flight miles for a given trip and multiplies them by the average fuel efficiency per passenger.  TerraPass then sells offsets in an amount that mitigates that figure.  To ensure that you get what you’re paying for,  TerraPass is audited by the non-profit Center for Resource Solutions (CRS), the leading certification agency in the renewable energy market. 

Some travel companies, like Natural Habitat Adventures, are going greener by offsetting their customers’ travel or offering guests the opportunity to do so individually.  And airports, too, are starting to join the effort.  Denver International, from which I’ll be departing, is looking to be the first in the nation to offer offsets for sale in its concourses.  The purchases would pay for renewable energy and power-saving projects.

Total cost to offset my round trip to Mexico City?  Less than $10.  A small sum that goes a long way, if we all do it, toward protecting the places we want to visit in the future from the growing impacts of climate change.

Safe travels,

Wendy