Carbon Offsetting in Tourism
What Is It and How Does It Work?
Our trips leave a mark on the environment. It’s important that we try to make it increasingly positive. There’s already a lot we can do simply by making small steps in our surroundings and by not littering around as well as being kind to everyone around us. But travel always comes with at least some negative impact. Our journey to the holiday destination, unless we’re going there on foot, produces CO2 emissions. Airplanes produce an especially large amount of these emissions.
Alenka Kastelic
CO2 emissions have a negative impact on the environment and cause global warming. The travel industry is particularly notorious for producing large amounts of greenhouse gases.
What is carbon footprint?
The term carbon footprint is used to show the amount of emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases which individuals, companies and organisations are responsible for. Carbon footprint can be calculated for an activity, an event, products and individuals. This includes activities, such as a car journey, airplane journey or the use of gas at home. CO2 is the product of most human activities, such as driving a car or flying on a plane. Even when you turn on the radiator at home or make dinner, you’re producing CO2. When it comes to your carbon footprint, what you eat and how you dress are also important.
CO2 emissions have a negative impact on the environment and cause global warming. The travel industry is particularly notorious for producing large amounts of greenhouse gases. In order to turn the negative into something positive, experts have developed tools that help calculate and neutralise carbon footprint by investing in projects that reduce or avoid CO2 emissions.
How can I offset my carbon footprint?
One of the tools is ClimateCare where you can calculate the amount of emissions which are the result of your plane or car journey. You can then pay a proportional amount to organisations, like the ones that plant trees. The environmental damage caused by your plane journey is therefore neutralised.
The Swiss company Myclimate is making efforts to effectively protect the environment both locally and globally. Its main activity is offsetting CO2 emissions through 144 projects in 41 countries. With these projects and with the help of local organisations, it’s replacing fossil energy sources with renewable ones and is planting new trees. These projects concerning environmental protection meet the highest standards and are proven to reduce greenhouse gases both locally and regionally. They also contribute to sustainable development.
You can do business with Myclimate as well. With their help, you can offset your stay at any of the HI hostels. All you need to do is to select »Customers Offset Their Overnights« when booking your stay at www.hihostel.si. All the contributions go towards three international projects that bring new jobs, and contribute to the local growth and improved health. More than six thousand tonnes of CO2 emissions have been offset since 2012. You can read more about it in the next article.
What can each individual do?
You can reduce your carbon footprint when travelling and at home by using these simple tricks. When travelling, instead of buying new things, you should opt for used ones. You’ll definitely find wonderful and valuable items in second-hand shops, such as souvenirs. Eating little to no meat is one of the simplest ways to reduce your carbon footprint. Two thirds of food-related carbon footprint is caused by meat consumption. This is the result of animal feed production. It’s also important to save energy, which is why you should turn off the lights and promote the use of energy-efficient lightbulbs. Electronic devices should be completely unplugged, so they don’t emit any lights in the dark. You should use public transport and share your vehicle with other people where public transport isn’t an option. If two people share a car, CO2 emissions are halved, and if four people share it, these emissions are reduced by three quarters.