EarthMoment

So what exactly is “carbon offsetting?” Well every time you drive to the grocery store or take a flight to visit your old college buddy; you’re putting out CO2 into the earth’s atmosphere. To figure out your carbon footprint you can calculate how much CO2 you have emitted by analyzing your activities. The first step is to reduce your carbon emissions wherever possible. There are many cost-effective energy saving and carbon reducing opportunities anyone can take. For example, you can carpool, take public transportation, turn off lights when you’re not using them and keep your car tires properly inflated. And of course reduce, reuse and recycle. Only 40% of the average American’s carbon footprint is due to their direct energy use. The other 60% is indirect; it comes from everything we buy and use—goods and services. Pay attention to your consumption and waste habits, and you’ll find lots of opportunities to conserve. Buy more local food, shipping burns fuel, for instance a 5-pound package shipped by air across the country creates 12 pounds of CO2 (3 ½ pounds if shipped by truck). Offsetting your carbon footprint allows you to become part of the solution to climate change by supporting the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions equal to your carbon emissions.

GET INTO IT

Why Not?
You know you’re gonna shop, that’s why you’re on this site – but now you can do it guilt free. With no extra cost or effort, you can benefit the earth while practicing retail therapy. With Earth Moment, a percentage of your purchase goes straight to Carbonfund.org, one of the world’s leading carbon offset charities. It’s a win-win situation, you get the product you wanted and the charities working for a better world get help too. Why would you shop anywhere else?

Bring It
You can calculate just how much carbon emissions you’re responsible for by filling out the carbon calculator when you register on EarthMoment at http://www.earthmoment.com/account/register

Not So Guilty Pleasure
Take your pick; Earth Moment has everything from plasma screen televisions to lipsticks.

I’m a recent green convert whose guilty conscience grumbles louder every time I read about someone or a business who is taking great steps toward a more sustainable lifestyle. After reading handfuls of articles I can’t sit idly by anymore. Simply being aware of the problem is not enough, I need to not only account for my actions but implement positive changes going forward. I want to live a greener, healthier lifestyle and I’m starting right now. There’s no timeline here, I don’t have a carbon offset number to reach. While I don’t have solar panels to heat my rental house and I don’t have a green roof, I’m fascinated by these big ideas. Taking baby steps I may one day get there. I’m not doing anything that hasn’t been done before; I’m making small changes in my life to lessen my negative impact on the earth. I became a convert when one day I was standing in front of the fridge with the door wide open, just perusing my options for lunch, and my brother said, “You’re wasting so much energy doing that!” And it hit me; pointless little actions like that really do waste an enormous amount of energy. Since then I have made an attempt to cut out those unnecessary habits of mine. Some of these changes may seem trivial or silly but hey, baby steps. I love sleeping in the cold and smothering myself in a down comforter, but during the summer I have to pump the AC in order to sleep comfortably like this. Now I use a down comforter just in the winter so I don’t have to blast the AC in the summer. I turn off the water when I’m brushing my teeth or shaving my legs (yes I’m trying to be “green” and the new green still allows me to shave my legs and wear deodorant). I unplug my cell phone charger, computer and lamps when I’m not using them. I don’t drink bottled water anymore and try to drink out of reusable cups now. I’ve been known to take unnecessarily long showers, and am working on cutting down my shower time more and more. Along with converting myself, I’m really trying to influence my roommates to convert; the first step was recycling. I labeled recycling containers so they know what can be recycled and where to put it. Now that they’re recycling their plastic water bottles, let’s see if I can completely break them of their habitual plastic bottle usage!

Everywhere you turn there’s another innovative product or practice with sustainability in mind, some more valid than others, and this is a forum for me to share with you what I have found. I’m learning here as I go, everything I learn I’ll share with you, and please help me along the way. If we all have good intentions things will get better. Just remember - baby steps.