Set sprinklers to water the lawn or garden only - not the street or sidewalk.
Use the microwave to cook small meals. (It uses less power than an oven.)
Purchase "Green Power" for your home's electricity. (Contact your power supplier to see where and if it is available.)
Scrape, rather than rinse, dishes before loading into the dishwasher; wash only full loads.
Cut back on air conditioning and heating use if you can.
Turn off appliances and lights when you leave the room.
Fly from Dallas to Orlando, almost 2,000 miles round trip, and, by one calculator, you'll generate almost a ton of carbon emissions, a leading cause of global warming. In recent years, dozens of companies have emerged to help offset the effect of carbon emissions by planting trees, funding conservation measures at power plants, or paying for alternative energy production such as wind power.
Some view carbon offset programs as nothing more than hot air, a way for entrepreneurs to capitalize on global guilt about climate change. But others, such as the founders of NativeEnergy, an American Indian-owned energy company in Charlotte, Vt., say they use offsets to fund cleaner energy production.
Here's how it works: Carbon offset Web sites have calculators that travelers can use to enter departure and arrival cities or the distance of the trip.
In the Dallas-Orlando example, NativeEnergy's site calculated the trip would generate 0.77 tons of carbon emissions per passenger. The cost of offsetting these emissions is $12. Pay $12 to NativeEnergy to offset the emissions, and the trip becomes carbon neutral. (Emissions estimates and costs vary by site.)
NativeEnergy Inc.
NativeEnergy Inc. uses offset fees to fund energy projects. Shown is their online carbon dioxide emissions calculator.
NativeEnergy uses carbon offset fees to fund energy projects ranging from wind turbines to cattle-generated methane. Because power companies are required by law to buy this energy, these projects reduce the amount of power produced by coal-fired electric plants and other so-called dirty sources.
The carbon-offset business started about a decade ago after Oregon passed a law requiring new power plants to reduce or offset carbon emissions. More recently, carbon offsetting has gone mainstream, and it is offered by Expedia.com, Travelocity.com and Delta Air Lines, among others.
Delta helps its customers support the environment by buying trees to help offset carbon emissions associated with air travel.
Customers who buy a ticket at Delta.com will have the option to contribute toward the offset of carbon emissions associated with air travel through a donation to the Conservation Fund.
Contributions of $5.50 for a domestic round-trip flight and $11 for an international round-trip flight will be used to plant trees throughout the U.S. and abroad.
"Many of Delta's customers and employees worldwide are passionate about and committed to social responsibility with environmental stewardship," says Jim Whitehurst, Delta's chief operating officer.
The newly planted forests will help to absorb carbon dioxide, filter water, restore wildlife habitat and enhance public recreation areas, he says.
Ron Mader, creator of the eco-tourism site Planeta.com, based in Oaxaca, Mexico, applauds conservation efforts but questions the value of carbon offsets.
"It's like the Catholic Church selling tickets to heaven," he says, a reference to the long-ago practice of payment to the church for absolution from sin.
Malia Everette, director of "reality tours" for Global Exchange (www.globalex change.org/tours), says her company uses NativeEnergy to offset the carbon emissions generated by the outfitter's trips.
"Carbon offsets are one way to address the contradiction of travel, and part of the education about the environmental impact," she says.
Offsetting carbon emissions may be today's hot issue, but it's only one way to address the environmental effects of travel, says Jim Sano of Geographic Expeditions (www.geoex.com), a travel outfitter in San Francisco.
Regarding carbon offsets, Mr. Sano says, consumers still must be wary because not all offset companies have reputable projects. "There's no equivalent of a Better Business Bureau for eco-tourism," the travel industry veteran says.
Mr. Sano also notes that only a fraction of travelers pay offsets. He'd like to see a mandatory fee imposed for all air travelers that would help counter the environmental cost of travel.
This year, Geographic Expeditions is initiating a 1 percent conservation fee for its clients. These funds will be donated to the nonprofit Tides Foundation to offset the land portion of the company's carbon footprint.
Many travel and environmental experts say voluntary carbon offsets are a good first step when the fees are paid to reputable companies.
"We need more stringent evaluation and certification of carbon offset programs," Mr. Mader says. Some offset companies "are planting forests they would have planted anyway."
Contacts: NativeEnergy, www.nativeenergy.com; Climate Trust, another highly regarded offset company, www.climatetrust.org.
Michael Shapiro is a freelance writer in California.
