11 Best Carbon Offset Programs To Balance Your Carbon Footprint
We’ve all been here: ready to hit “Confirm” as we book our flight or check-out from our favorite Amazon alternative. Then we notice a little blank box offering to offset our footprint.
A couple of bucks to make up for our emissions (and eco-guilt) seems like a no-brainer, but is it really so simple?
Don’t get us wrong, carbon offsets are a good thing, but they’re not a green card to excuse unsustainable behavior. Even the best carbon offset programs can’t make up for wanton waste of emissions. Knowing how to offset your carbon footprint is just one part of the equation; reducing it altogether is the rest.
It’s also important to purchase them from vetted organizations that are actually accomplishing what they say they are. To help, we’ve explored the ins and outs (er, offs?) of the most legitimate and reputable carbon offset companies.
The Full List Of Carbon Offset Companies
- Wren | Explore Offsets
- ClimeCo | Explore Offsets
- Klima | Explore Offsets
- Native | Explore Offsets
- Terrapass | Explore Offsets
- My Climate | Explore Offsets
- Atmosfair | Explore Offsets
- Clear | Explore Offsets
- Cool Effect | Explore Offsets
- Sustainable Travel International | Explore Offsets
- TripZero | Explore Offsets
Examples Of Carbon Offsets
Carbon offset providers are verified organizations of environmental conservation, energy efficiency or renewable energy which reduce, avoid, or remove greenhouse gas emissions from the atmosphere.
Put simply, a carbon offset is a way for an individual or corporation to balance out or negate a portion of their carbon footprint. They are essentially monetary support for projects that either remove (AKA sequester) CO2 from our atmosphere or prevent new emissions.
Commonly, carbon offset projects include things like tree planting, renewable energy developments, clean water programs, energy efficiency improvements, carbon capture, and bioremediation.
We often associate them with flying because the airline industry was one of the first to offer them with just the tick of a box, but personal carbon offsets can be purchased for nearly any and everything—from cruises and daily commutes to internet usage and a hot shower. In fact, you might already be indirectly purchasing carbon offsets when you buy something unique handmade gift on Etsy.
What To Look For In Carbon Offset Organizations
Carbon offset packages are based on the price of carbon and the value of carbon credits, which considers the economic, social, and environmental impacts of a project, along with biodiversity, balance of payments, employment, livelihood, and health impacts.
The program should be able to prove it is having an impact that is measurable and wouldn’t have been possible without the offsetting efforts (known as additionality_—and won’t result in ‘leakage’, where offsetting efforts simply transfer the offset emissions to another sector.The best carbon offsetting companies adhere to the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) or Verified Emission Reduction (VER) from certifying bodies like Gold Standard, Plan Vivo, or Verra.
1. Wren
Wren describes their projects as ‘planet-saving’ and ‘life-saving’. They fund four types of climate solutions including carbon removal technologies, tree planting processes, leading policy groups (like Clean Air Task Force) and conservation projects that protect natural ecosystems such as the Amazon Rainforest.
Wren carefully selects projects that meet high environmental standards, ensuring the projects are independently verified and certified by internationally recognized standards, such as the VCS or the Gold Standard.
They’re one of the best carbon offset programs for individuals and businesses alike. You can either buy one-off offsets (say, if you have an upcoming flight you want to offset) or subscribe, for which you’ll begin with the Wren carbon footprint calculator to find a subscription plan based on your CO2 output.
Wren will send monthly updates of the positive impact your offsets are having.
2. ClimeCo
ClimeCo (formerly Carbon Fund) has helped reduce or avoid more than 30 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent emissions since 2009. That’s the equivalent to taking over 6.5 million average passenger cars off the road for a year.
The projects—which include initiatives to support energy efficiency, renewable energy, and reforestation of over one million trees—meet third-party certification standards from organizations like Gold Standard, VCS, American Carbon Registry, Climate, Community & Biodiversity Standard, and more.
You can choose between one-off offsets (for cars, air travel, homes, events, or water usage), opt annual offsets or, if you’ve been saving up, an individual lifetime offset for just over $16,000.
Yes, that’s a lot of money, but think of it as an investment in our planet’s future, which is honestly the best investment (both that of the individual and the collective) that we can make.
3. Klima
Klima is climbing the ladder among user-friendly carbon offset services thanks to its handy mobile app that allows individuals to calculate, track, and offset their carbon footprint seamlessly in one go. While we found its carbon footprint calculator is a bit more generalized than others on this list, we appreciate that it’s bringing carbon offsetting to more people through sheer convenience.
Verified by third-party entities such as Gold Standard and VCS, their impactful projects span vital areas like forest conservation in the Amazon Rainforest and the advancement of wind energy in India.
Dedicated to transparent reporting and detailed project insights, this Certified B Corp allows anyone to access their carbon ledger, which tracks and provides proof of each offset.
4. Native
As a public benefit corporation, Native’s supported projects are a little different. They pioneer community-scale initiatives around regenerative agriculture, increasing biodiversity, and strengthening farming communities.
For example, all purchased carbon offsets allowed them to provide communities in Ethiopia with filters for clean water. In other words, their impact is usually twofold, encompassing both environmental and social benefits.
For individuals, they have a carbon footprint calculator and several options—including one-time offsets, gift packages, and monthly, quarterly, and annual subscriptions. You can also select which specific project you’d like to support.
Native Energy is validated by several certifications, meaning you’ll find only verified American Carbon Registry, Plan Vivo, and Gold Standard carbon offsets here.
5. Terrapass
Terrapass is an oft-spoken name in the world of carbon offsets because this for-profit social enterprise caters to individuals, events, small businesses, and medium-to-large corporations alike.
Their projects all pass the additionality test, and typically involve forest improvement, landfill gas capture and promotion of wind power. Most are based in the United States and through them, they aim to support local, smaller communities that might not normally have the budget or infrastructure to run large-scale environmental projects.
Terrapass have regular third party audits, earning certifications from Gold Standard, VCS, and American Carbon Registry. In fact, they were the first carbon offset provider in the United States to share this level of transparency.
6. My Climate
Swiss initiative My Climate is one of the global leaders in voluntary carbon offsets, having developed and supported 197 climate protection projects in more than 45 countries since 2002. Customers range from some of the largest companies in the world to nonprofits to individuals like us.
Most projects are in line with the UN SDGs, focusing on things like hydropower, energy efficiency, biomass, land use and forestry, waste management, and water purification. Think: protecting forests in Tanzania for the wildlife and indigenous people that live there, caring for seedlings in the nursery of the reforestation project in Uganda, and planting biogas to improve the quality of life for women in India.
Their annual reports elaborate on the impact of their efforts, and all projects are verified by third-party standards such as CDM Gold Standard and Plan Vivo.
7. Atmosfair
Atmosfair is in the business of reducing emissions while supporting sustainable development and combating poverty.
The German nonprofit contributes to CO2 mitigation by promoting, developing and financing renewable energies in over 20 different countries, ranging from solar energy, hydropower, and wind energy to environmental education and eco-tourism. They rely exclusively on voluntary climate payments from private individuals and businesses.
Annual impact reports specify how the funds are used, which, per their 2022 report, shows that 90% of funds go directly to the carbon sequestering projects.
One of the best carbon offset programs for flights, they help you calculate and offset the emissions in a quick and simple way. Opt for an offset subscription or choose any desired amount of carbon dioxide to offset once, monthly, or quarterly. You’ll receive a personal certificate upon doing so.
8. Clear
Clear your carbon slate with Clear, the only carbon offset program on this list to have achieved a Quality Assurance Standards (QAS) certification for all offsets. That means each one satisfies a rigorous 40-point checklist of the world’s highest carbon negating standards.
This Certified B Corp provides the most accurate carbon footprint calculators available, prioritize efficient and ethical initiatives, and offers affordable pricing.
You can choose a personal offset for nearly any activity: a commute, car ride, hotel stay, business flights, waste disposal and recycling, internet usage, and even skydiving or a hot air balloon flight.
9. Cool Effect
Cool Effect wants to make carbon offsetting simple. In a click of a button, you can choose between a specific project, pick based on the number of emissions you’d like to offset, or simply donate equally to all projects.
Their projects—which include things like protecting bear habitat in Alaska and constructing clean-burning cookstoves in rural, impoverished homes in Honduras—are based on peer-reviewed scientific methodologies and independent technical advisory committees that ensure the financial and environmental durability of the projects.
They guarantee the projects are ethically sound, 100% additional, and further certified by several major international carbon credit standards, like Verra, Climate Action Reserve, and Gold Standard.
10. Sustainable Travel International
Beyond choosing eco-tourism companies for your next vacation, Sustainable Travel International can help you protect and conserve vulnerable destinations by neutralizing tourism’s impact on people and our planet.
They reduce tourism’s carbon footprint in a few different ways: conserving fragile ecosystems of common tourist destinations, empowering local communities, and reducing the amount of waste and pollution associated with tourism.
All projects have been certified by independent third-party organizations, like Gold Standard, Plan Vivo, and Climate Action Reserve.
11. TripZero
TripZero is a hotel booking portal founded by Eric Zimmerman after he found out air travel contributes around 4% of anthropogenic global warming.
This Certified B Corp specializes in travel-related business carbon offsets, from finance conferences to music festival organizers. They source event venues and hotels, calculate carbon emissions of event attendees’ travel and lodging, and offset attendees’ carbon footprints for free through projects related to reforestation, renewable energy, and methane and greenhouse gas reduction.
Like every travel company, TripZero earns commission from hotels, but they use a large portion of this money to pay for further offsets on behalf of their customers.
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