Our mission is clear – to crowdfund for the planet and protect the world we live in for future generations. But do you know what carbon offsetting is and how we utilise it to support global projects?
To help you understand more about what we do here at Climate Wise, we’ve answered a few of the most popular questions you’re typing into your search engines around carbon offsetting – and demonstrating how this can be a valuable addition to a sustainable lifestyle.
So, what is carbon offsetting?
Every single day we’re creating a carbon footprint – the total greenhouse gas emissions caused by our daily activities.
Even though these greenhouse gases are one of the biggest contributors to climate change, there are many ways you can reduce your environmental impact – from shopping sustainably to travelling less.
However, in today’s society it’s unrealistic to live a carbon negative lifestyle, and with the evidence of climate change increasing yearly, we must do everything we can to protect our planet.
That’s where carbon offsetting comes in.
Carbon offsetting can be a valuable addition to your sustainable lifestyle as it helps you reduce every tonne of CO2 you emit by ensuring there is one tonne less in the atmosphere.
It seems very simple, but this can only be achieved by directly funding projects, organisations and initiatives that are taking action to make meaningful change to global CO2 and greenhouse gas emissions.
You can use a carbon footprint calculator to determine where you need to minimise your impact and how much carbon you need to offset.
Does carbon offsetting work?
Some people are sceptical about whether carbon offsetting works, but this cynicism is mainly directed at schemes that suggest carbon offsetting is the only solution to tackling climate change.
We strongly believe that carbon offsetting isn’t a ‘get out of jail free’ card, and we recommend that all individuals and organisations do what they can to reduce their carbon footprint, by making positive lifestyle choices in addition to offsetting the impact they can’t avoid.
By pooling donations from our Climate Wise community, we can fund accredited global projects that reduce CO2 levels within the atmosphere and find sustainable solutions for organisations to reduce their impact long term.
Let’s take the Cleaner Safer Water Project In Cambodia, for example. By distributing over 600,000 ceramic water filters, Hydrologic has reached more than 1.5 million people, about 10% of the population across Cambodia and saves about 130,000 tonnes of CO2 every year.
How can we help climate change?
The facts about climate change are very real, and if we’re unable to prevent the global temperature from crossing the 1.5-degree threshold, it will cause unprecedented damage to the world’s habitats and ecosystems.
The projects we support are already helping communities and animals affected by climate change; for example, the Coalition for Rainforest Nations has sequestered over 8.6 billion tonnes of CO2!
Here at Climate Wise, we’re helping people to carbon offset because we want to make real, sustainable change to the world we live in.
There’s no easy way to save the earth, but by uniting together and acting now, we can ensure that we preserve our beautiful planet – and all of its habitats and species – so that future generations can enjoy it too.
Find out how you can kick-start your carbon offsetting journey here.