Travel Light Offset Your Carbon Footprint

Flight emission calculators produce an estimated CO2 emission figure based on common factors such as the distance between the departure and destination point, one way or return and the number of passengers and often class of travel booked (first or business vs economy). Many also include a ‘high altitude’ multiplier for the effects of long-distance, high-altitude flight.

We have chosen to keep our calculator simple. For example, we assume that the majority of DWC’s volunteers will be flying ‘economy class’ rather than including an additional calculation for business or first class. We have included a multiplier for radiative forcing (see the next FAQ).

Aircraft not only emit CO2, but also other agents that affect the Earth’s radiative balance (how much sunlight is absorbed or reflected by the atmosphere) and thus the climate. This is particularly true for long-distance international flights that often occur at high altitudes. Although the science about radiative forcing is considerable, it is still evolving. Most flight emission calculators include a multiplier of 2 on total aircraft CO2 emissions to account for the warming effect due to non-CO2 aircraft emissions.

The best way to reduce CO2 emissions is to replace one emission producing energy source with another one that does not produce emissions, for example by replacing a gas-powered car with an electric one, or by using solar panels to generate electricity for a home rather than getting power from a coal fired power plant. Sometimes however, substitution of one energy source for another is not always practical or feasible. Air travel generally falls into this category.Carbon offsets are the next best way to address CO2 emissions. Carbon offsets are designed to diminish the emissions resulting from one source, such as air travel by investing in other activities that avoids or reduces emissions by an equivalent amount.

DWC has two environmentally focused projects that absorb or minimize CO2 emissions, Light up Guatemala and Forever Green. Donations made to these programs through the carbon calculator are pooled together and used to purchase and install stoves or plant trees.

Light Up Guatemala’s eco-stoves have many benefits, including being much more energy efficient. They need about 70% less wood fuel than open fires thus reducing the cutting and deforestation of the landscape.

The Forever Green program in Kenya reforests the landscape with trees that over the course of their lives store amazing amounts of carbon.

Light Up Guatemala
Based on independent third-party research, each eco-stove installed is estimated to prevent five to seven tonnes of CO2 from entering the atmosphere. For our offset calculations we have chosen to use the more conservative estimate five tonne figure.

Forever Green Kenya
A typical tree can absorb between 20 and 50 kilograms of CO2 per year depending on the species. Over a lifetime of 100 years, one tree could absorb approximately one tonne of CO2. This means that acres of trees need to be planted and allowed to grow to maturity to sequester large quantities of carbon. Donations to Forever Green support the tree planting project of ACCESS Kenya which aims to start and plant 10,000.

No. DWC’s carbon offset projects are not accredited or independently evaluated primarily because such accreditation is quite costly and time intensive for a small charity. Currently, our offset projects are relatively small scale and localized. Our models use benchmarking from similar programs that are accredited to ensure the accuracy of our design and approach.

Yes. All carbon offset donations will be eligible for a Canadian or American charitable donation receipt.