We’ve all heard much in the past weeks surrounding the human impact on this planet. Really, it’s been constantly in the news since late last year when Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth was released on DVD. Then it was the NCDC’s report in January announcing that 2006 was in fact the warmest year on record. And then President Bush’s call for a sharp cutback in petrol consumption during his 7th State of the Union speech. Then Parisians shut off the lights on their Eiffel Tower last week on the eve of the release of a U.N. report on climate change. A day later, Exxon Mobil revealed they earned $75,000 per second in 2006 on oil revenues. And today, new report predicting rising seas makes it just below-the-fold at nytimes.com. Even the folks at a traditionally business-focused Economist magazine featured “The Greening of America�? in their latest issue.

Clearly, the word is spreading. People are getting it. The news is finally off page two, and above-the-fold in mainstream media. But now it’s more important than ever to strike while the iron is hot, and for humans worldwide – not just us Americans – to take action.

The New York Times referenced two websites in an article on Eco-Tourism where visitors can measure their carbon emissions and become “carbon neutral�? – a brand-new entry in the Oxford English Dictionary for 2007 – by purchasing passes to offset their negative impact through investment in alternative energy sources. A brilliant concept. (The Times published an earlier article on the subject last fall.) In today’s world, no one can totally escape carbon emissions, but we can take steps to reduce them.

One of the websites referred to, TerraPass.com, is part of the solution. I just bought two TerraPasses for each of my Subaru’s, and I’ll be scooping up some more for my house and again before we fly to Africa in May. (How do TerraPasses work?) In all, my wife and I are responsible for an estimated 41,000 pounds (includes home, two autos, and numerous domestic and international flights) of carbon dioxide emissions in 2007. This is down from close to 55,000 in 2006 since we switched out our thermostat and lightbulbs, started unplugging not-in-use electronics, and turned down the heat/aircon a few degrees. We already wash clothes using cold water, use a clothesline, recycle, walk when we can, and more. Carbon neutral we are.

It’s easier than you think to be green, and with companies like TerraPass, it’s even easier to be carbon neutral.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 6th, 2007 at 12 pm and is filed under environment, home, jude and mark, links, people, save the planet, travel, websites.