This week is Thanksgiving -- one of the busiest of all travel holidays. A good time to think about offsetting your carbon footprint if you are planning a long trip home -- especially if you care about creating a more carbon-neutral lifestyle.TreeHugger recently commissioned Ecobusinesslinks.com to complete a comprehensive comparison of nonprofit and for profit organizations providing carbon offsets. The survey found that most companies provide nearly identical service (offsetting carbon emissions) using a couple different means (tree-planting or investment in renewable energy, or both) but varying wildly in price. Carbonfund.org checked in with the lowest price, at $5.50 US per metric ton of carbon dioxide, while other companies like TerraPass (about $10/ton) and NativeEnergy (about $13/ton) charge more for their offsets that can be calculated for more specific activities, like traveling by car or airplane.
What's your carbon impact? According to Carbonfund.org, a non-profit organization, each person in the US produces 23 tons of CO2 emissions per year, based on a composite of typical activities. That's before you cook and eat the turkey ... something to think about while you're waiting in the airport between flights.
