The Truth about Carbon Offsetting

Carbon offsetting has grown in popularity over the years as the environmental movement has boomed. Trees are well known to be carbon stores that pull greenhouse gasses from the air and purify the air we breathe. They also keep temperatures down by providing shade. Trees are great! There is no denying that.

But, carbon offsetting is far from perfect. It can be used as a greenwashing technique, it can be used irresponsibly by planting invasive species or just planting trees in a plantation that will soon be cut down again, and it can lead to companies not changing bigger ticket items like emissions created in the first place.

I think carbon offsetting has its place and I will never be upset over planting trees, but we need to know as consumers: does this make a brand eco-friendly? Where are trees planted? How does it work?

According to Oxford Dictionary, carbon offsetting is an “action intended to compensate for the emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere as a result of industrial or other human activity, especially when quantified and traded as part of a commercial program.” In short, it’s a business.

Anyone can carbon offset, too. It’s not just for polluting companies. Even eco companies do it to “balance things out” and individuals can do it too to compensate for flights or other wasteful actions we make. If done properly through trustworthy organizations, it truly can be a good thing by not only planting trees but giving money to conservation efforts.

How does carbon offsetting work?

First, an individual or company must initially calculate their carbon footprint. Check out this video to hear my thoughts on carbon footprints and how they’re kinda a scam. They are then charged a fee based on the level of CO2 and other greenhouse gasses they have created. The fee is paid to a broker or an organization that will use that money in projects that reduce carbon emissions; the most popular being tree-planting efforts.

I like this image from Tech Target where they emphasize the importance of reducing emissions before trying to offset them. I feel oftentimes, companies simply just offset without trying to reduce where they can first. Simple efforts like using energy-efficient appliances and light bulbs, using natural light, and reducing water usage are all easy ways to reduce your carbon footprint and can be applied at the individual level or within a huge company.

Some important things to note:

- The money used must represent the removal or reduction of emissions that would have not otherwise occurred. This is monitored by organizations that inspect projects and calculations. In other words, you can’t give money to a tree nursery to carbon offset as they are already going to be planting those trees. This must be an individual project.

- Carbon credits cannot result in more emissions created elsewhere. What this means is if one forest is now protected due to a carbon offset project, another not-protected forest cannot be cut down as a result

- Credits cannot be reversed. They are permanent. I think this means that you simply cannot plant a tree just to cut it down shortly after. You must plant that tree and protect it so it can do its job removing carbon from the air. Other permanent efforts are underground carbon stores that ensure carbon cannot make its way back into the atmosphere.

This is great news to me because I was certain that companies were planting palm oil trees and destroying habitats just to say they planted trees. But how strict are these rules? Cause? Because?, speaking of palm oil, when I did a deep dive into RSPO sustainably sourced palm oil, I found out there are some strict rules to ensure that the creation of palm oil would not cause environmental damage. The issue is…these rules are rarely enforced.

Here's what I could find on carbon offsetting:

Straight from the offestguide.org themselves, they say simply that “standards do not have registration and enforcement systems.” It’s all gray and nuanced, as it always is. It all comes down to the program which is why if you’re offsetting you need to vet the program you choose to see if they are truly upholding these standards or not. Many offset programs have their own standards and requirements which makes it vary.

How is carbon offsetting done?

We’ve only talked about tree planting and that’s because that’s usually what I think of and I’m sure it’s what comes to many of your minds as well. But there are other carbon-offsetting efforts and here’s how they work:

- Tree planting: restore areas threatened by deforestation. Trees absorb and hold carbon inside.

- Agriculture: carbon offsetting efforts by farmers are done with techniques and technology to maximize resources and reduce food waste right off the bat

- Aviation: airline companies use AI to optimize flight paths and invest in technology to reduce fuel usage

- Renewable energy efforts: things like wind, solar, hydro, and more aim to replace fossil fuels. You can learn more in this video or this post.

- Water management: taking clean water to areas that otherwise have to use high energy to decontaminate water

- Waste management: projects designed to capture methane generated from sending food waste to the landfill (learn more in this video)

- Carbon sequestration: these projects take carbon out of the air and store it in areas that are likely to not release it back into the atmosphere (rocks, trees, swamps, and soil)

- Energy efficiency: projects in this category help improve the energy usage of existing infrastructure such as insulation

Is carbon offsetting greenwashing?

Yes and no…unfortunately, as it often is, it depends. As with most greenwashing, it’s important to ask yourselves a few questions, but in this case, one important question: is that their only environmental effort? For example, if Coca-Cola (this is theoretical) says they plant trees to carbon offset and that is ALL they are doing, that’s greenwashing. If they truly cared about the planet, they would reduce their emissions, they would have better recycling, and much more. Now, on the opposite end, a company like Pela makes compostable phone cases out of plant waste, ship plastic-free, and take back their cases to compost instead of putting that burden on consumers, AND they carbon offset. That looks pretty good and doesn’t feel like greenwashing to me (maybe you have a different opinion). Hopefully, these examples help clear things up.

This reminds me of my post on Terracycle. The program itself is NOT greenwashing but brands can use it TO greenwash. As with all good programs, there is always a wasteful company out here to exploit it to fool us and make a quick buck. So, be careful of this claim.

As with all eco-shopping habits, look for more than one source of eco-ness. Is the company also 3rd-party certified? Are they also made of eco-friendly materials? Do they make efforts to also reduce their emissions? And much more. Take some time to evaluate the company instead of instantly praising them for planting some trees.

Will carbon offsets fix anything?

Carbon offsetting will not fix climate change, not alone anyway. But, then again, there is no single perfect solution to climate change. We need all the solutions we can get. It’s never a bad thing to plant trees and it’s never a bad thing to reduce CO2 in our air. The downside to offsetting is that emissions still happen. It does not discourage companies from reducing their emissions as we already discussed when it comes to greenwashing. Wasteful companies with big bucks just throw their money at the problem without actively seeking solutions which is a shame. We need companies to not only commit to offsetting, but to carbon neutrality and carbon reduction in general.

I still think carbon offsetting is valuable, but we need to be careful. It will not solve all our climate problems on its own and again, as a standalone, it does not make a company eco-friendly. Look for other certifications/claims like B Corp, Rainforest Alliance certified, certified carbon neutral, using recycled materials, companies that use green energy, and so much more. If a company’s only claim is “carbon offsetting” take that as a red flag. They need to do more.

My thoughts on individual carbon offsetting? I don’t think it’s bad, but I also don’t think it’s all that necessary for the average person. If you’re Taylor Swift or Kim K, sure, your individual carbon offsetting would make a difference since they are some big polluters. But you or I taking a couple of flights a year for occasional leisure or visiting family isn’t going to make or break anything. Offset if you want and can afford to do so, but don’t feel pressured. And I hope this goes without saying at this point…vet your brands. Make sure they are investing in actual conservation efforts. Make sure they back up their claims. If you want more information on how to find a quality carbon offsetting company, let me know and I’ll make a follow-up post to this one!

Thank you so much for reading along, I hope you found this helpful. I sure learned a lot researching for this post. I wish I had done this research sooner!

Please share this post with others who may find it valuable. I hope this helps you on your eco journey and your journey to becoming a more conscious consumer. Don’t forget to download my free guide to spotting greenwashing to help you even more!

As always, remember that your small actions have a big impact in the long run :)

Emma