getting started

Introduction

As with so many things, the most difficult part of ‘going green’ is getting started. Until you’ve begun to wrap your head around what this all means, it can all feel rather abstract.

In reality making the transition to a more sustainable future is relatively easy and the rewards are remarkably diverse and substantial.

On this page, we provide you with a brief overview of the whole process.

Please feel free to skip to the specific pages for lifestyles, travel and products, where you can purchase carbon offsets.

Awareness

The first step in taking action on climate is becoming aware of the issues.

For most people, climate change is an inconvenient sideshow to their busy lives.

Unfortunately we live in a world where the news media almost exclusively feeds us with bad news. The negativity which surrounds the climate discussion can be so demotivating. It’s so easy to think that we’re all doomed and there’s nothing that we, as individuals, can do about it.

The optimistic view is that mankind is embarking upon the largest and most exciting project in history. The upcoming decades will see some fabulously positive technical innovation, a huge renaissance in the natural world and a widespread levelling up of impoverished people.

When we talk about awareness in this context, we mean trying to achieve a balanced understanding of the actual situation, rather than getting dragged down to the negative view being pedalled to us by the media or carried away with unrealistic optimism.

Once you have reached a sensibly balanced view of the future, it becomes a lot easier to start thinking about how you may play a positive role.

Motivations

The decision for an individual to take action to offset their carbon footprint tends to mainly be a moral one, but it can deliver rewards that are far from sanctimonious.

Becoming carbon neutral, becoming sustainable, can really transform your view of the future and be an incredibly uplifting experience.

We are all increasingly aware of our environmental impact on the planet, both as a species and as individuals. For those of people who think about such matters more deeply, there’s a genuine feeling of consumer guilt about the glut of energy and materials that we get sucked into wasting on a daily basis.

A small minority of people are able to disconnect from modern society and live a much simpler and less wasteful life, but for most of us, disentanglement is not practically possible. Living within the system, even when we are conscientious about our expenditure, consumption and recycling, just doesn’t cut it.

In addition to living modestly, you can offset your remaining carbon footprint by purchasing carbon credits and getting us to plant tropical trees.

You can offset your whole lifestyle for the rest of your life very easily and for a surprisingly low cost. Or you can choose to offset specific purchases which concern you, like travel and products.

Many of our clients report that, once they’ve taken the step to offset their lifestyles, they’ve felt like a heavy burden has been lifted from their shoulders and that life has suddenly become more fun again.

Measurement

The next critical step in taking action on climate is to quantify your environmental impact.

This is surprisingly easy.

Every time you spend money, it results in emissions being created. All you need to do to quantify your carbon footprint is to allocate your annual spend to various categories and apply appropriate emissions factors.

The simplest calculation takes your total expenditure and multiplies it by a single approximate emissions factor, to provide a very crude estimation of your footprint.

A sensible mid-range approach is to split your expenditure across 10-30 different emissions categories and apply more finely tuned factors.

If you really want to reach an accurate figure, then you can break down each emissions category into any number of sub-categories. For example, ‘transport’ can be split out into ‘air, road, rail, sea’, which can be further subdivided into vehicle type (car, van, truck, bike), by power source (diesel, petrol, electric) and by size (mini, medium, luxury, SUV). Obviously there are diminishing returns in going too far down this route.

By quantifying your carbon footprint, you will become more aware of heavy emissions areas where you might like to cut back and low emissions areas that you need not worry about. You will also learn how much carbon you need to offset in order to go neutral.

In other words, measurement provides you with the power to take control of your emissions, which is a very empowering and uplifting experience.

You can quantify your emissions using the information on the pages for lifestyles, travel and products.

Action

Once you have quantified your emissions, you are in a position to take action.

You can purchase carbon offsets for lifestyles, travel and products right here on the website.

When you make a purchase, we will provide you with a formal receipt, stating how much you have paid, how much carbon you are offsetting and how many tropical trees we have committed to plant on your behalf.

If you are every lucky enough to travel to Africa and are able to visit our projects, then we would be delighted to show you around. You can meet our lovely staff, visit local farms and villages, hug your trees or snorkel with your corals. It’s an absolutely enchanting experience.

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Lifestyles

On this page you can calculate your carbon footprint and purchase carbon credits to offset your whole lifestyle and go carbon neutral.