San Francisco airport wants to sell you carbon offset credits

As of yesterday, passengers departing from San Francisco international airport can purchase carbon offset credits before taking their flight. The credits are called “Climate Passport”, and they can be bought from electronic kiosks located throughout the airport.

Each ton of carbon offsets costs $13.50, and a typical transcontinental flight spits out about 1.9 tons. Offsetting that will cost you just under $25. Of course, that number is for the total amount per flight, so if more than one passenger on a flight pays for the offsets, the flight will theoretically be carbon negative.

The money gets split – $12.00 goes towards the Garcia River Forest project, and $1.50 goes to the city of San Francisco to support local carbon reduction projects.

The kiosks cost $190,000 to install, and to me that seems like a heck of a lot of money for something that is going to be a pretty hard sell. On paper the project looks great – it allows passengers to help the environment without having to give up much more than a little of their cash, but in reality I really don’t see many passengers participating – though I’d like to be proven wrong.

You can learn more about the program, and how the collected money is spent, at the Climate Passport web site.

%Poll-34551%

Gadlinks for Wednesday 9.9.09


Now that I’ve just typed the date today, I realized what a special day it is! It happens only once a year, and the next one will be on my sister’s birthday, 10/10/10! What that means exactly I’m not sure, but this article provides a little insight. Apocalypse though? I think not.

Here is today’s installment of Gadlinks. Enjoy!

´Til tomorrow, have a great evening!

More Gadlinks here.

Five tips for green travel

1. Green your flight
Offset the carbon footprint created by your share of air travel, buy some carbon credits. Several websites can yelp you calculate your carbon footprint (such as TerraPass.com and ClimateCare.org), allowing you to take action. The offsets you buy will ensure that energy from renewable sources will be sent to the grid.

2. Book an environmentally friendly tour
Intrepid Travel has introduced “carbon offset” trips, designed to be eco-friendly without, frankly, sucking. This year, 38 of Intrepid’s 400+ excursions will be eco-friendly … close to 10 percent.

3. Give back a little
RockResorts has “Give and Getaway” vacations, where you can pitch in on volunteer projects – like trail restoration with the National Forest Foundation – in trade for discounted lodging rates.

4. Watch what you drive
If possible, carpool to and from the airport. Too often, we all fight for airport parking (and emit a bit of extra carbon) for no good reason. When you get to your destination, consider renting a hybrid.

5. Stick with your new green habits
When you get home from your trip, give back to a destination by donating to an organization such as Travelers’ Philanthropy … and try to turn a small experience into a lifelong habit.

Denver International Airport wants to offer carbon offsets to passengers

Carbon offsets are a hot item these days, especially for travelers. In terms of travel methods, flying is one of the biggest producers of CO2. But sometimes opting for a long train ride is out of the question and we are forced to hop on an airplane. This is when the eco-conscious traveler finds a good carbon offsets program and pays to have a carbon neutral footprint.

The Denver International Airport is currently trying to facilitate that process and institute a program which would allow passengers to buy carbon offsets in its concourses. The offsets would pay for renewable energy and power-saving projects that help in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Currently the airport is looking for a carbon offset provider by soliciting proposals for a 3 year non-exclusive contract to offer the carbon offsets to passengers. Initiating a program such as this one would make it one of the first airports in the country to do so.

“Airports and airlines are under more and more scrutiny regarding greenhouse gas emissions and how they can offset climate change. . . This offers a small step in the right direction to raise awareness and let people know that airports want to do the right thing,” stated Janelle Barrilleaux, the airport’s director of environmental programs.

Denver hopes the program will be running by August, but not only out of goodwill; the airport expects to reap a percentage of the profits, according to the Rocky Mountain News. You can read more about it here.