Tuesday 20th June

Climate Care have just finished calculating the CO2 emitted by us as a result of our combined travel plans - 8 tonnes! That is 8 times what some argue is a reasonable amount of emissions for the whole of one year for one person! To give you an idea of how bad flying is (and how good cycling and ferries are) here are some of their figures:
A return flight to Vancouver – 3 tonnes
3 months camping – 1 tonne
A night in a hotel – 0.04 tonnes
A return rail trip Cumbria to London – 0.02 tonnes
A ferry trip from Alaska to Vancouver – 0.015 tonnes

These emissions have been offset for us by Climate Care by investment in projects in the developing world designed to prevent or reduce emissions.

Offsetting has been criticised. The main concern is that offsetting will absolve people from doing what really needs to happen which is reducing each person's emissions. Others claim it helps to raise awareness of the real cost of travel and other fuel uses. It has certainly made us think about the value of every trip and we have reduced our travel considerably as a result.
loft insulation and a green energy supplier will follow shortly. The rest we will continue to offset.

Follow the links on the web site to find out how you can offset.