Friday, February 02, 2007
Carbon Neutral
Warning: non-China-related, kinda boring post follows.
I've always felt I live a pretty environmentally-friendly lifestyle, especially here in China. Laurel and I don't own a car, I bike to work most days, and our utility bills each month are minuscule (okay, so this is mainly due to the fact that we don't have nice big appliances like a dishwasher or functional washer/dryer). And running the heater is futile since our apartment has essentially no insulation - we've gotten used to living at approximately the outside ambient temperature.
Given all this, I was pretty shocked when I calculated my personal CO2 emissions and came rang up about 15,000 lbs of CO2 per year, way above the national average. The culprit? All those trans-Pacific flights for work. Two a year from Shanghai to Austin, not to mention the various travel flights within China. Here's the math:
Using Terra Pass flight calculator:
Shanghai <-> Austin (x2 times/yr) = 29,861 miles = 595 gallons gas = 11,646 lbs CO2
Kinda makes all those bike trips seem pretty ridiculous. Maybe Cheney was right about conservation just being a personal virtue. So how to keep my job (I need to fly) and still feel good about my lifestyle without being a complete hypocrite?
Carbon offsets. For about $75/yr, I can offset the CO2 emissions of those flights approach carbon neutral.
Carbon offsets are obviously a complicated and contentious topic, the merits of which I'm not going to even attempt to discuss here. Some may scoff at the economics or environmentals (is that a word?), but if nothing else I figure $75 is a great investment in my piece of mind. What do others think?
Read more here:
Consumers Guide to Carbon Offsets
Terra Pass
Native Energy
An Inconvenient Truth
I've always felt I live a pretty environmentally-friendly lifestyle, especially here in China. Laurel and I don't own a car, I bike to work most days, and our utility bills each month are minuscule (okay, so this is mainly due to the fact that we don't have nice big appliances like a dishwasher or functional washer/dryer). And running the heater is futile since our apartment has essentially no insulation - we've gotten used to living at approximately the outside ambient temperature.
Given all this, I was pretty shocked when I calculated my personal CO2 emissions and came rang up about 15,000 lbs of CO2 per year, way above the national average. The culprit? All those trans-Pacific flights for work. Two a year from Shanghai to Austin, not to mention the various travel flights within China. Here's the math:
Using Terra Pass flight calculator:
Shanghai <-> Austin (x2 times/yr) = 29,861 miles = 595 gallons gas = 11,646 lbs CO2
Kinda makes all those bike trips seem pretty ridiculous. Maybe Cheney was right about conservation just being a personal virtue. So how to keep my job (I need to fly) and still feel good about my lifestyle without being a complete hypocrite?
Carbon offsets. For about $75/yr, I can offset the CO2 emissions of those flights approach carbon neutral.
Carbon offsets are obviously a complicated and contentious topic, the merits of which I'm not going to even attempt to discuss here. Some may scoff at the economics or environmentals (is that a word?), but if nothing else I figure $75 is a great investment in my piece of mind. What do others think?
Read more here:
Consumers Guide to Carbon Offsets
Terra Pass
Native Energy
An Inconvenient Truth
# posted by tim @ 12:09 AM 
Comments:
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Well, from my perspective it is all futility...you can do your part and have your piece of mind, but in the grand scheme your Carbon emissions pale in comparison to other sectors, sectors which do not care to change. I guess it comes down to the realization that sometimes your piece of mind is more important than actually making a difference.
TJ,is this you or do I somehow know another "Troy"? Well said, but I would add that change has to start somewhere. The energy sector isn't going to volunteer to curb emissions (we've already seen that doesn't work) without grass roots pressure from individuals standing up and demanding change.
That's awesome! Kelly and I just started doing this after watching "An Inconvenient Truth". You're right that it does have to start somewhere.
# posted by 
: 3:31 AM
: 3:31 AM
I think doing your part helps because you inspire others. You could also plant 10 trees (I just pull that number out of my... head) for each flight you take :-) Just make sure they are local trees.
http://www.treesftf.org/main.htm
http://www.bouldercolorado.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3862&Itemid=1470
http://www.treesftf.org/main.htm
http://www.bouldercolorado.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3862&Itemid=1470
# posted by : 12:35 AM
: 12:35 AM
No offsets are perfect. They're just better than doing nothing and we have to start somewhere. Treeflights.
# posted by : 9:04 PM
: 9:04 PM
We thought the Keeley house was doing pretty good with our personal CO2 emissions, and then we remembered the weekly flights to Boston... seems like we're not doing so hot either. Bottom line, change needs to start somewhere and most great changes start one person at a time. AND, if I ever read/ hear the words, "Maybe Cheney was right" come out of your mouth again, our friendship may be on shaky ground. :):)
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