Going Carbon Neutral
I was interested to find out what it would cost to offset the carbon debt generated by running my cab for a year. After all we keep being told to be “Green” and to live a more carbon neutral lifestyle. Well the results were incredible to say the least.
Working on the figures of 85,000km’s a year and using 11ltrs/p 100km’s in petrol it works out to 1840.22 tonnes off CO2. I used the calculator @ MyCarbonDebt.com
That works out to $46,413 AUD It’s a UK site so you will need to covert it to your currency @ XE.com
Seeing that figure begs the question. How is it possible for anyone business or private to offset their carbon footprint? I’m only running my cab part time and it’s almost 50 thousand dollars. Imagine the cost for a bus company or an entire taxi fleet.
April 8, 2008 at 15:15
That UK Site is ridiculous! Have a look at Aussie company GreenFleet’s site. http://www.greenfleet.com.au/ssl/treetotaller/treetotaller.htm
They plant trees to offset your carbon emissions, and in your example it works out to $197. Much more cost effective, and it goes towards something which will really help. The UK site seems to push money off to other sites, presumably taking some of the money to keep their website running!
June 10, 2008 at 03:32
it’s not as bad as a private car, the more people ride in a taxi or bus, the more people leave their own cars at home.
June 25, 2008 at 09:47
I’m considering joining the World Wealth Society, a group started by thought leader, James Arthur Ray (I’m a big fan) and wanted to see if anyone had any tips or info about going carbon neutral as a business owner. One of the requirements of the society is, as a business owner, to take your company carbon neutral and to set up an environmental policy. I’m totally onboard, but frankly, I’m a little intimidated and would love to hear from some other business owners who have done this and what the costs and time commitments are to make this happen. James talks about why we need to do this in his book, Harmonic Wealth (check out the Relationship chapter – as in relationship with the world! – on page 133), but I’d love some more specifics. If you are interested, check out his website: http://www.jamesray.com or http://www.harmonicwealth.com.
Thanks!