Here are six fast ways to Carbon Offset the gasoline, electricity, jetfuel and other fossil fuel products that you use to help slow down the Climate Change Monsters that are killing our biosphere – mega wildfires, floods, hurricanes and heatwaves.

Show businesses how to Carbon Offset with these tools too.

1] Invest + Carbon Offset

Here’s how to calculate your monthly Carbon Offset and then Invest it in one of your favorite environmental organizations

1] First, calculate your monthly Carbon Offset due by multiplying your monthly net income by 24%*, OR, by using one of the Carbon Offset calculators listed below.

*24% is based on the XOEarth’s INVEST – My Carbon Tax program. Go to the INVEST page to see why it is 24% of your [or a business’s] net income.

Or, if you prefer to use one of the following Carbon Offset calculators, use the calculator, and then please multiply your result by 80 to get your Carbon Offset due.

[Multiply by 80 because the IPCC says the price on carbon may need to go above $1,000 a tonne sometime before 2030 and perhaps reach as much as $27,000 a tonne by the end of the century if we do not act now. Most of these Cabon Offset organizations sell carbon offsets for about $10 a ton. Multiplying by 80 offsets your carbon at about $800 a ton.]

+ CarbonFund.org [a fast calculator with cool presets]
+ CoolEffect.org [a quick offsetter with easy presets]
+ *INVEST / My Carbon Tax* [No need to multiply by 80 if you use this method. Plus, this is a fast 10 second, net-profit based carbon offset calculator made by Stele at XOEarth.]
+ CarbonFootprint.com [a detailed, very smart calculator]

2] Then either, invest your Carbon Offset in the same climate change fighting organization that you used above,
OR, invest your Carbon Offset in one the following environmental organizations that is working hard to slow down climate change.

Here are some of our favorite climate change organizations that we hope you will consider::

+ SierraClub.org
+ 350.org
+ XOEarth.org
+ NRDC.org
+ EDF.org
+ Greenpeace.org
+ ExtinctionRebellion.org / xrebellion.org
+ Climate Reality Project
+ Native Energy
+ CarbonFund.org/
+ CoolEffect.org
+ To find other superb orgs to invest your Carbon Offset in, check out Climate Action Network International [CAN] and US Climate Action Network [USCAN].

If the full 100% suggested amount for your calculated offset is more than you can afford, Carbon Offset some part of that percentage – such as 90%, 40%, 14% or even 4%. In any case, remember that every Carbon Offset dollar you spend will help keep our planet a little cooler and little more livable.

3] Tell others how much you Carbon Offset and invite them to join your “Carbon Offset Team”.

4] Enjoy a healthier and fun’r planet, thanks to your Carbon Offset!

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[Full Carbon Offset definition.]

2] Travel + Carbon Offset

Here are two easy peasy carbon offset Travel formulas to carbon offset your flights and automobile driving trips.

For airline flights multiply every airline mile by at $0.16, Then give that amount [or more] to an organization or project that directly cools the Earth!

For traveling by car that get’s about 20 MPG multiply every driving mile by $0.35. Then give that amount [or more] to an organization or project that directly slows down climate change! To more accurately find out how much to give per mile for your car, divide your car’s MPG by $7.10.

Here is the basis for the airline flights and automobile trips carbon offset formulas ::

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [IPCC] has suggested we currently should be carbon offsetting at about $800 a ton of CO2 to keep this biosphere livable.

The average 5000 airline trip makes about 1 metric ton of CO2. [Carbonfund.org] The IPCC recommended $800 divided by 5000 miles is $0.16. [$800 / 5000 miles = $0.16 mile]

So when you carbon offset at $0.16 per flight mile you are doing your carbon offset at about $800 a ton of CO2! A big thanks for always carbon offsetting so we can keep having fun on this sweet+rad+dying Earth!! Yeah!!

A gallon of burned gasoline makes about 8.89 kilograms of CO2. [U.S. Energy Information Administration / eia.gov]. The IPCC recommended $800 multiplied by 8.89 kg/gal divided 1000 kg is $7.11. [$800 * 8.89 kg co2 / 1000 kg = $7.11]

So when you carbon offset at $7.11 per gallon of gasoline you are doing your carbon offset at about $800 a ton of CO2! A huge thanks for always carbon offsetting so we can keep having fun on this awesome+priceless+dying Earth!! Woohoo!!

If you really have to, you can carbon offset at less than the formulas ask for because anything you INVEST will help fight the climate change monster wildfires, floods, heatwaves and hurricanes. But do that full carbon offset as much as possible to be more cool and have more fun.

For more love and life, Stele

3] Sell + Carbon Offset

When you sell something on Craigslist or by some other means, offer to give the buyer an eco discount if they write a Post on their Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or some other social network about an eco action that they take that helps slow down climate change. This encourages others to continue to take actions that reduce or offset their carbon emissions. The suggested wording for your posts is below.

You can also offer the discount to any buyer that makes a Donation to one of your favorite enviro groups that is fighting climate change. This is a much more direct and guaranteed way to make sure your discount always results in an additional carbon offset. The suggested wording for your posts is below.

Post::
Add this note to your For Sale ad on Craigslist to offer an eco discount to buyers for writing a Post about an eco action they have taken on their Facebook, Twitter or Instagram account.

 
Here are some optional lines to add to your PS:
Another way to get the climate action discount is to make a 2X donation to your fave environmental organization via your phone or my computer when you pick it up. I like to give a discount to peeps that take environmental actions that help stop the monster wildfires, floods, hurricanes and heatwaves. Then email a link to your eco post to me. If you mention XOEarth.org in your post that would be nice.

By the way, in your Craigslist ad’s title, you may also want to add “+xoearth 1/4of” or “+xoearth 1/2off” (or some other fraction), or, “+xoearth free” or “+xoearth fre”.

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Donation::
Add this note to your For Sale ad on Craigslist to offer an eco discount to buyers for making a donation to one of their favorite environmental organizations when they buy the item from you.

 
Here are some optional lines to add to your PS:
I like to give a discount to peeps that take environmental actions that help stop the monster wildfires, floods, hurricanes and heatwaves. Then email a link to your eco post to me. If you mention XOEarth.org in your post that would be nice.

By the way, in your Craigslist ad’s title, you may also want to add “+xoearth 1/4of” or “+xoearth 1/2off” (or some other fraction), or, “+xoearth free” or “+xoearth fre”.

4] Free + Carbon Offset

When you want to give away things to people for helping protect our planet, list it For Sale on Craigslist or elsewhere, then offer to give it for free to any buyer that writes a Post about an eco action that they take on their Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or some other social network. This encourages others to continue to take actions that reduce or offset their carbon emissions.

If you prefer, you can offer it for free to anyone makes a Donation to one of your favorite enviro groups instead. The latter is a much more direct and guaranteed way to make sure your 100% discount results in an additional carbon offset.

Post::
Add one of these notes to your For Sale ad on Craigslist to offer it for free to buyers for writing a Post about an eco action they have taken on their Facebook, Twitter or Instagram account.

 
Here are some optional lines to add to your post:
Another way to get the climate action discount is to make a 2X donation to your fave environmental organization via your phone or my computer when you pick it up. I like to give things for free to peeps that take environmental actions that help stop the monster wildfires, floods, hurricanes and heatwaves. Then email a link to your eco post to me. If you mention XOEarth.org in your post that would be nice.

By the way, in your Craigslist ad’s title, you may also want to add “+xoearth free” or “+xoearth fre”.

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Donation::
Add this note to your For Sale ad on Craigslist to offer something for free to people for making a donation to one of their favorite environmental organizations when they come pick up the item from you.

 
By the way, in your Craigslist ad’s title, you may also want to add “+xoearth 1/4off” or some other fraction, or even”+xoearth free” or “+xoearth fre”. As suggested above, instead of listing your item in the Free category, it is better to list your item in the For Sale category and then offer it for “Free” or “No charge” to a person for posting their eco action or for making a donation. People looking at Free listings may think it is not truly free if they have to do something for it. It may appear to be a “bait and switch” to most people.

If more than one person wants a thing that you are giving away, pick one of their names out of a hat or use a random number generator select one of them on from a list.

Only contact a person if, and only if, you decide that the person making the post is safe to contact.

5] Biz + Carbon Offset

The XOEarth Carbon Offset [or GreenBeanz] in-store Carbon Offset is a way for a business and its customers offset the carbon footprint of a product. Businesses may also choose to match and offset a percentage of the customers’ offset as well.

We are offering three names for you to choose from in your in-store Carbon Offsets. Carbon Offset or XOEarth or GreenBeanz are the names. We will eventually decide which of these names works best for this initiative.

Here’s how the XOEarth in-store Carbon Offset works. When a customer is paying for a purchase at a store, they may see a sign and/or will be asked by the clerk if they would like to add Carbon Offset [or XOEarth or GreenBeanz] to their purchase.

If the customer asks what Carbon Offset [or XOEarth or GreenBeanz] is about, the clerk can say, “for an additional 5% (or another relevant %) you can offset the carbon footprint for this purchase/product.”

The clerk may say, “The money we collect for Carbon Offset [or XOEarth or GreenBeanz] will be sent to [the carbonfund.org/ or other non-profit org] who will make sure your Carbon Offset [or XOEarth or GreenBeanz] donation is invested in wind, solar and other renewable projects that help reduce the net CO2 emissions of this purchase.”

If the business is matching a percentage of that offset, the clerk might also say, “Plus, for every dollar our customers contribute to offset the carbon footprint of their purchase, we will add 25¢.

Eco citizens can help make the Carbon Offset [or XOEarth or GreenBeanz] in-store Carbon Offset happen by asking businesses, “Please offer a Carbon Offset when we buy your products to help stop climate change and global warming”.

The Carbon Offset [or XOEarth or GreenBeanz] collected from customer by a business will be forwarded to the CarbonFund.org, or some other renewable energy offset organization. Customers will get to decide whether or not to purchase the offset.

Businesses are also invited to match each of the customer’s offsets with their own Carbon Offset [or XOEarth or GreenBeanz] contribution — either in full or a portion of.

To help a business get started::
+ Estimate how much it takes to offset the carbon footprints for the average product or department in a store. Check out ecofx.org for help and resources.
+ Set up a Carbon Offset [or XOEarth or GreenBeanz] offset button or a code on the cash registers so that the business will be able to track and send in the appropriate amount of offsets contributed by the customers’.
+ Print Carbon Offset [or XOEarth or GreenBeanz] signs and put them in the store’s window and at the cash register.
+ Each month, the business can post a notice stating how much their store has been collected and sent to the CarbonFund.org in the previous month. (A little chalkboard to post the amount looks good.)
+ It’s also great if the store offers to match a customer’s offset to some degree. A 100% matching contribution would be superb.
+ Hopefully CarbonFund.org will be able to post how much the stores have contributed month by month to allow tracking of contributions.

Most of the *Participating Businesses* will have the Carbon Offset [or XOEarth or GreenBeanz] sign posted in their store window and/or be listed in the *Participating Businesses Directory*.
If you run an eco conscious business, please join us. The Carbon Offset [or XOEarth or GreenBeanz] Carbon Offset is an eco conscious marketing program that is good for the planet and for biz.

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Plus, here are two XOEarth sister projects that businesses are welcomed to join as well::

The XOEarth Credit/ discount is a superb program that businesses can add alongside their GreenBeans program. The XOEarth Credit offers a discount to eco customers who bring in a *Love letter to the Earth* that they have written describing an eco action(s) they have taken in the last week, or XOEarth money. *Participating businesses* will be listed here.

Businesses are also invited to take the XO Earth Biz Pledge to show they are willing to give back 1% to the planet via their biz. Feel free to print it, sign it, post it in your business’s windows, in advertising and around your store.

All businesses are asked to offer customers the Carbon Offset [or XOEarth or GreenBeanz] by 2016.

6] Game + Carbon Offset

The XOEarth Carbon Offset Game is played to offset the carbon footprint of your and your friends’ purchases, travel and stuff that makes CO2.

Two or more friends play the XOEarth Carbon Offset Game as a team to reduce the team’s carbon footprint, while also competing against each other to get the best player score. Either way, the goal is to get both your personal carbon footprint and your team’s total carbon footprint as low as possible.

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XOEarth Carbon Offset Game strategies::

#1 Let’s say you need to buy a new jacket (an eco fleece shell) that has a carbon footprint of 30 kilograms (66 pounds). If you help a friend on your team start biking to work for 100 miles (based on 35 mpg), or, start carpooling an extra 300 miles, or, get them to start bringing their reusable coffee mug instead of using 5 paper cups — then you get to claim 1/2 of the Carbon Offset towards the purchase of your jacket. To estimate the equivalents for this offset game check out ecofx.org.

Because you helped get a player started in reducing their carbon footprint, the first week [or month] of their carbon reduction actions they take are applied to your own purchases or other CO2 producing choices. After a few times of taking that offset action, they get the credit applied towards their own carbon footprint if they keep taking those actions.

#2 Offer to give a team member (or others) an XOEarth Honor if they will offset part (or all) of their carbon footprint with specific actions or by purchasing Carbon Offsets. XOEarth Honors has lots of rad ways to challenge and thank others for reducing or offsetting their carbon footprint.

#3 Offer to sponsor half (or some other portion) of a team member’s carbon footprint offset for a purchase or other CO2 thingy with CarbonFund.org (or other offset non-profit) if they will pay for the other half. Or, if you are both buying the same product or taking the same doing the same CO2 making thing, offer to offset your CO2 if your friend will offset theirs.

For more XOEarth Games that can help you reduce your carbon footprint, check out the XOEarth Games page.

Carbon Offset definition

A carbon offset is a reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases made in order to compensate for emissions made elsewhere. Offsets are measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide-equivalent (CO2e). One tonne of carbon offset represents the reduction of one tonne of carbon dioxide or its equivalent in other greenhouse gases. [Carbon Offset / Wikipedia]

Offsets typically support projects that reduce the emission of greenhouse gases in the short- or long-term. A common project type is renewable energy, such as wind farms, biomass energy, or hydroelectric dams. Others include energy efficiency projects, the destruction of industrial pollutants or agricultural byproducts, destruction of landfill methane, and forestry projects. Some of the most popular carbon offset projects from a corporate perspective are energy efficiency and wind turbine projects. [Carbon Offset / Wikipedia]

Carbon Offset organizations that market one or more of these kinds of specific projects are very ethical and legitimate in almost all cases. That’s because these Carbon Offset organizations pay an independent auditing company to verify that the carbon offset projects that they, the Carbon Offset organization, is doing is valid and would not have happened without the consumers’ investments in those projects.

But here’s why I think it’s super ok to “Carbon Offset” with any reputable environmental organization that is working to help slow down climate change.

Making a contribution to any organization that is helping slow down climate change is obviously far better than not making any contribution at all.

After all, there are a lot of environmental non-profit organizations that help slow down by other means, such as::
+ Helping pass laws and regs that mandate government, businesses or consumer action that helps slow down climate.
+ Helping get people elected that will pass climate protection laws.
+ Helping pass carbon fees or taxes that will be used on specific projects as described further above.
+ Help get community members take on these kinds of specific projects on their own.

Plus, if a person is willing to make bigger contributions to their favorite environmental organization that is fighting to slow down climate change, that is better than making smaller contributions to the official carbon offset organizations.

And, some people don’t carbon offset at all with the official carbon offset organizations because of an unfounded fear of that their projects don’t make a difference or they are being scammed.

So if you prefer, Carbon Offset via your favorite organization if it is helping slow down climate change and reduce carbon emissions by using governmental reform, media projects, activist work, direct action, education initiatives, legal action, legislative lobbying, conservation projects and system reform.

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Don’t Offset 100%, or Do::

If you feel that you can’t afford it, it’s ok to contribute less than the full 100% of the carbon offset amount recommended by the Carbon Offset calculator that you used in step one.

However, for every kilogram of carbon that you carbon offset, the world will be a little cooler and a little more livable with a little less destructive climate change monsters.

Every single kilogram of carbon that we carbon offset, and that we get our friends to carbon offset, will help make our planet more livable!

If you have contributed less than the full amount recommended, tell friends and others what percentage of your greenhouse gases that you Carbon Offset. Then encourage and honor them to carbon offset some or all of their carbon footprint too!

XOEarth.org is listed as an organization to carbon offset with because we work to get thousands of adults and students to take actions in their lives to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases they create by living more sustainably. We do this via our HERO pledge, carbon offset INVEST, educational programs, environmental shows, and more.

Plus, you can send ANY business a Carbon Offset/Tax bill that asks them to pay their fair share too, by using the *My Carbon Tax* calculator.

Envision

Envision… hundreds of businesses offering a Carbon Offset option to their customers, and matching part or all of the customers’ contributions to show their commitment to help protect our exquisite planet.

Envision… millions of people choosing to offset the carbon footprint of their purchases to show their love for this superb planet and to show they want to do their share to protect it.

Envision… billions of people taking more eco actions once they feel the good vibe of helping the planet by offsetting their carbon footprint with a bunch of cool ways — and thus helping create a truly “ecological society”.

Help manifest this vision to protect our planet’s future — go Team Earth.

For all the life that loves to live, Stele Ely

Edu

XOEarth Carbon Offset programs are a good way for students, teachers, businesses and parents to work together to stop global warming, to promote school spirit, to support peace, and raise money for environmental clubs.

Art, photography and media students are invited to design and post new XOECO designs, stories and video links to XOEarth Facebook. Cool ideas will be added here too.

Contact us for club and school materials, or to have us come talk to your group about XOEarth and global warming.

 Sleek

Even though carbon offsetting is great, to get a sleek, great looking carbon footprint it is also crucial to make ecological lifestyle choices. Reducing is the premier carbon pollution reduction strategy. Find lots of carbon reducing actions you can take for our sweet biosphere via the following resources.

+ XOEarth’s *Green Minute Rule*
+ Sierra Club
+ NRDC
+ Greenpeace
+ Environmental Defense Fund
+ Union of Concerned Scientists
+ The Nature Conservancy
+ Earth Island
+ Sea Shepherd
+ Wilderness Society
+ World Wildlife Federation
+ CoolEffect.org
+ TerraPass.com
+ Native.eco