Welcome to the WCD
Video courtesy of our partner, the non-profit Bonneville Environmental Foundation.
Our planet is heating up — at the rate of two degrees over a 50 year period. While this may not seem like a lot, the earth's eco-system is in such a fragile balance that just a few degrees can cause massive melting of the ice caps, extreme variations in weather patterns, drastic species extinction and severe consequences to our every day landscape. Within the next 50 years, if we don't do anything, there will be no glaciers, 70% of all fish species will be threatened with extinction, and the water level could rise several feet, threatening major cities. The cause of this global warming is mankind. As the world population continues to grow, and as we burn fossil fuels as our main source of energy, the amount of carbon-dioxide in the atmosphere has climbed from 300 parts per million in 1950, to over 380 parts today. Never in the last million years has the C02 level passed the 300 level. This must be reversed immediately if we do not want to suffer a mass ecological cataclysm. As an individual or company, there are 3 ways in which you directly contribute carbon dioxide into the atmosphere:
- by using electricity, which is largely produced by burning coal or gas into the atmosphere.
- by your automobile, burning gasoline into the air as you drive to work and back.
- by airplane travel, which also burns gas into the air.
The best way to estimate your home electric footprint is to look at your monthly electric and gas bill. As a rule of thumb, figure that every $100 a month you spend on electricity will add 4 Tons to your annual footprint. A small automobile, driven 12,000 miles a year will add another 2.5 Tons a year. A medium car will create 5 Tons of C02, and a Hummer or a large SUV will create 10. Air travel, finally is a big source of emissions. For every 5-hour roundtrip flight (LAX-JFK), figure 1 ton of C02. Taking all this in consideration, the average person creates at least 10 Tons of C02 emissions each year. If you drive a lot, fly a lot, or have a big house, you may consume many times that number. While we highly recommend first trying to conserve — by carpooling, for instance, or choosing energy efficient appliances — the reality is that the only way most of us can become "carbon neutral" is by sponsoring a project that actually lowers the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. There are a number of these types of projects. The first, and most commonly known one is to plant trees. Trees break up the carbon dioxide in the air into carbon and oxygen. The carbon becomes the tree itself (the trunk, the branches and the leaves), and the oxygen is released back in the atmosphere. It has been estimated that one tree will absorb 1 Ton of carbon dioxide over its lifetime - so you need to plant a lot of trees to offset the average human footprint of 10 tons per year. There are other types of offsets, including capturing methane from animal farms (as opposed to releasing it in the atmosphere), capturing gas from landfills, and replacing coal fired plants with wind farms. Offsets are a fairly new business, but there are already measurement and auditing standards, so that when you "buy" a 10 Ton offset, you are reasonably guaranteed that in fact you will be contributing negative 10 Tons towards carbon emissions. But while a "ton is a ton" from the planet's perspective, carbon offset efforts also typically benefit the group or community that sponsors the project. So you should examine the individual carbon offset companies to find the one that fits your perspective.
