In the previous post we looked at the question of whether or not carbon offsets are a real deal. As it turns out, they are, but you need to be careful when purchasing so you don’t waste your money. Since there’s no regulations for carbon offset credits, you’ll need to do some investigating before you buy.

At a site that sells carbon credits you should look for the following:

Clear green goals laid out – what exactly are they doing with funds?
Are projects clearly defined. For example, how soon is your money used, what exactly is it used for, and how much …read more

Yes – Carbon offsets are totally real; if you get them from a reputable seller.
WHAT IS A CARBON OFFSET?:
Basically, a carbon offset is just like it sounds; it offsets your personal carbon, more indirectly than directly though. You buy a specific amount of offsets from say, a wind energy company and the money you give allows the company to work harder to create cleaner energy, thus offsetting your footprint in a way. If you put up solar panels or wind turbine at your home, you’d be offsetting your own carbon, but in many cases it’s less trouble for people to …read more

The Governator has been busy.
Last week, former movie star and current California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger officially declared that his state was in a drought and threatened to ration water to cities if conservation efforts were not increased. The New York Times reported:

The declaration comes after the driest California spring in 88 years, with runoff in river basins that feed most reservoirs at 41 percent of average levels. It stops short of a water emergency, which would probably include mandatory rationing.
Efforts to capture water have also been hampered by evaporation of some mountain snowpacks that provide water, an effect, state officials …read more

Carbon Rally is a social networking site that rallies communities together to take action to reduce their CO2 emissions.
Teams compete against each other with challenges like “go one week without using any disposable coffee cups” or “unplug your computer every night for one month”. By accepting challenges and incorporating carbon reducing ideas into their daily lives, individuals boost their team efforts while creating a collective effort to cut back on carbon emissions.
The idea came from Massachusetts Sierra Club activists Jason Karas, Stan Ward, Bill Filler and Steve Barrett. Karas wanted to create an fun, interactive and engaging catalyst that would …read more