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Sustainability and Thinking Green

Debates in Sustainability and Thinking Green

Carbon off-setting is not the solution

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albrecht
  • Authority 341
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albrecht said:

Almost every action we take as a human being on this earth has a corresponding effect or ecological footprint where we release harmful carbon. The idea of purchasing carbon off-setting has really taken off recently with plenty of options out there for the environmentally conscious consumer to consider. Essentially, you pay to invest in things such as green technologies or planting trees, all of which counteracts the damage done through the carbon that’s been emitted.

I read this article in MacLean’s Magazine awhile back which provided me with a new viewpoint on the quickly growing (and unregulated) carbon off-set industry. Take a look for yourself.

In the end, I think it’s certainly an honourable thing to do and does a lot more good than harm. It’s easy to find many of the faults as this article does…but a lot more difficult to come up with solutions. We just need to be careful that we aren’t using carbon off-setting as a way to buy a clean conscience while we continue our consumption patterns unchanged. It could be a dangerous thing if this is starts being seen as a long-term solution instead of a short-term act of goodwill.

Have you purchased carbon credits to off-set some of your ecological footprint? I’m interested in hearing your thoughts!

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  • Posted 2 months ago.
oLahav
  • Authority 613
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oLahav agreed:

I agree and disagree, as usual. I agree with the fact that it’s not the real long-term solution and that it’s not nearly enough.

I disagree with the idea that it does more good than harm. We have no idea whether it does more good than harm, and we won’t be able to check the real effects until some years have passed and we’ve done some valid studies. The money is supposedly going to green causes, but at the same time it’s fueling the companies that destroy the ecosystem in the first place. I personally don’t believe in all this trash, I do only what makes sense to me. I won’t ride the bus just because David Suzuki says I should; if my local transit system is full of old, terribly polluting machines, I’ll take the subway instead.

It’s important to think for ourselves and not just fall into the “go green” trend because it’s popular and all the hot celebs are doing it. Companies shouldn’t try to do green stuff because it’ll make consumers like them and buy their products, they should just reduce the impact they’re already making on the environment out of real concern.

Another thing to add- Live Earth. You remember that concert last year with tons of cool bands (Police reunion), that was supposed to help raise awareness for the environment? At the same time it was using up all this power and hurting the environment, wasn’t it? (ask The Who and Arctic Monkeys) .It wasn’t like Earth Hour. You think it was a good idea or not? Did it achieve its goal or just made more harm in the process?

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  • Posted 2 months ago.
acrosstheuniverse
  • Authority 610
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acrosstheuniverse disagreed:

Although I agree that carbon-off-setting is a great idea, especially the idea of creating green space for future generations, I’d like to bring in the discussion of how these carbon-off-setting items are actually put into place.

Say you’ve just flown from Toronto to New York and you’re thinking of off-setting the trip you’ve just taken. A number of trees may be planted on a plot of land in order to off-set the omissions. However, think of the omissions it takes to bring the trees to the site, probably by truck. Or as the article says, provides more for the labour than the actual green component.

I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, however there are other factors that come into play instead of the omissions and new greenery magically making the mess go away.

I do agree that it is a great innovation that’s making many businesses consider their tolls. But my concern lies in the off-setting rather than re-setting. Is taking the mess back possible?

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  • Posted 2 months ago.
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