Tip # #81 Buy Carbon Offset When Flying

For those of us that take regular holidays abroad and travel on business, flying makes up a considerable chunk of our carbon footprint, but are there ways of reducing those emissions?

Did you know that flights were responsible for 2.4 per cent of global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions in 2018 — a figure expected to grow more than threefold by 2050 (source).

Carbon offsets offer a way to balance out your pollution by investing in projects that reduce emissions of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. If you’re taking a long-haul flight from New York City to Paris, for example, you can purchase a carbon offset to account for that specific environmental impact.

You don’t have to be travelling to be concerned about your carbon dioxide emissions — anyone can buy a carbon offset. But because travel is particularly toxic to the environment, travellers may feel more compelled to account for their participation in the pollution.

You can consider it as your karma. What you take, you can give back by paying off the carbon offset.