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The Revolution
This is a revolution. If you want to shut an airport then stop flying.
Want an end to factory farming? Grow your own. An end to pollution?
Change to renewables. An end to war & poverty? Microgenerate. Life
for your childen? Stop needing oil. YOU have THIS Power. You do not
need Government. Seize the initiative. Bring democracy to your
community. Be an example to your children. Take responsibility.
Change for good today. |
Make Carbon History
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For years a growing bunch of pioneers have been offering us ways
of putting money into ethical Carbon-reduction investments.
These included technology transfers to third-world countries or
Carbon sequestration through forestry. This offered no financial
reward but it was like money in the bank for a future for our
children. For the ordinary people, working hard to reduce their
Carbon Footprint, this offered a form of self-taxation to
encourage further savings.
However, around 2005, Politicians picked up this idea as a way
of paying for "Business as Usual" with the G8 Summit became
"Carbon Neutral". Suddenly every environmental group on the
Planet condemned 'offsetting'. It became tainted by the cynicism
of cynicism. Where does this leave us? Desperately rescuing
baby from bath water.... |
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Investment or Con?
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We believe that everyone
should invest and save up for their future. This is common
sense. However, some (who are greener than green) frown on
this thing called "offsetting" as they believe it is used as
an excuse for 'business as usual'.
Through 2006 and
2007 the angry protests of the greens grew louder and
louder. The allegations went to odd lengths. Various pundits paraded scientific studies suggesting
the Trees don't absorb Carbon and we were better off
adopting tracts of existing mature rainforest instead. Had elements of the green movement adopted the junk science of the Climate-Change-deniers? All
over a semantics?
This argument
could easily have damaged tree-planting project funding at a time when the World Watch Institute told us that
Forest destruction was a major cause of GHG emissions (20%). The debate continued and was clearly not
won. The offset industry shrugged it off and grew stronger
and stronger. By 2008 it looked like more moderate views may
have started to dominate. Forum for the Future endorse
offsetting but only after a program of carbon
avoidance, reduction and replacement. The
Ecologist magazine likewise concluded, in their May 2008
edition, that readers should "Avoid, Reduce, Replace then
Offset". It was mind-numbingly obvious advice that could
have been lifted directly from the pages of
Carbon-Cutters.com. Common-sense
may be prevailing.
Carbon-Cutters include Carbon-Offsetting
ONLY as a component
within our overall program and only AFTER you have
powered-down, recycled and substituted. Offsetting is not an excuse for not cutting
back. No step of the program can stand by itself. You must
try to all, eventually. |
How Much Should I
Invest?
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 When we
calculate how much we should invest we meet controversy. For
it is precisely this point that the cynics pour cold water
on the idea that how much you invest should be linked to how
much Carbon your produce. Well, yes, but this is a little
unfair to the tiny minority who are, essentially, taking on
a
voluntary form of self-taxation. Anyone conscious enough
about their Carbon Footprint to actually go about measuring
it is probably unlikely to ONLY offset. Hence we choose to be
less cynical.
IF YOU choose to directly link your emissions of Carbon to
the amount you pay in Carbon-negation then you are linking
your self-tax to your pollution. The more you pollute, the
more you pay. This is a great form of motivation to reduce
your pollution. If this works for YOU then great! You have
our fullest support.
However,
invest wisely. |
Investing Wisely
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The second
major criticism of offsetting has been that the schemes are
fraudulent. There are two basic types of offsetting:
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Carbon Sinks
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Technology Transfer
The first is
about Carbon Sequestration. This mostly means planting lots
of trees. The second has to do with replacing other people's
technology with low carbon alternatives. There is nothing
wrong with these principles.
Where we have
landed in trouble is with our economist's ideas of parcelling
up little chunks of offset and trading them on the open
market as part of the Kyoto accords. Impersonal Carbon
Trading has lead to absurd abuses. It has been possible for
money to be made by the unscrupulous simply by getting paid
so that they don't switch to higher-carbon technology. This
is obviously wrong. Avoid this and invest wisely. |
Resource
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The Ten Steps
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-
 Organise
- Powerdown
- Recycle
- Substitute
- Stay
- Generate
- Grow
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Invest
- Make
- Community
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OK - Where Should I
Invest?
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A recent
article in The Ethical Consumer Magazine evaluated 13 leading
Carbon Offset companies:
- Atmosfair
- CarbonNeutral
- Carbon Offsets
- Climate Care
- Climate Friendly
- Climate Trust
- CO2Balance
- DrivingGreen
- Equiclimate
- Global Cool
- MyClimate
- NativeEnergy
- Pure
Of these they
recommended Atmosfair. However, here at Carbon Cutters we
recommend Equiclimate for those who calculate their own CO2
Business footprint. For private carbon reduction investments we
recommend CO2Balance for forestry. |
Alternatives to Offsets
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If you are unsure
about offsetting then there is nothing wrong with 'decoupling'
your own emissions from the amount you invest. If so then the
May 2008 Ecologist article suggested several alternatives of
which we recommend:
However there are many organisations and
charities that you can donate to who will put your money into
schemes that will reduce atmospheric carbon. Our favourite is:
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I'm not taking it any more!
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Post-Carbon Man is on the warpath again. Don't get him started on
the offset-bashing! He has had enough and he isn't taking it any
more.
Learn what he has to say about the wisdom of
carbon-negation Ethical Investments by clicking right
here Make sure you have
enabled popups! Enjoy. |
Millablog
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I think you should invest wisely. My Mum and Dad pay for the
important things in life. Every year Daddy works hard to
calculate our Carbon Footprint. We work on shrinking it. Then we
pay our own Tax for the amount of Carbon we have sent out to the
sky. We invest in trees being planted in Britain. We buy them
for Grandad too. He gets one on his Birthday and another for
Christmas. I like trees so much! And Grandad too. |
Read this Book
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 "The
Consumer's Guide to Effective Environmental Choices"
bought to you by the
Union of Concerned
Scientists
We read this
book with great interest as it covers a breakdown of
spending habits and what causes most damage. However the
book focuses only on the peculiar universe that is North
America. It also finds it home in traditional
'environmental' causes... More
here. |
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