Carbon offsetting: Are you neutral?
Carbon Neutral is very much in vogue, and it seems not a day goes by without another organisation announcing its intentions to offset emissions. It's a neat little concept that can make us feel better about our bad habits, and in itself, it's becoming big business.
But last week, the Carbon Neutral Company found to its cost that opinion is very much divided in the green community as to its validity. I'm curious to know Hippyshopper readers' opinions on this very current question...
The company was taking part in a parliamentary climate change meeting on Thursday 22nd when its representatives met with fierce opposition from pressure group London Rising Tide. The group criticised carbon offsetting, saying that it sells consumers "peace of mind about climate change that shouldn't exist." A spokesman added that "the whole idea of offsetting is a throw-back to the sale of indulgences to guilty sinners in the Middle Ages".
So where do you stand on the Carbon Neutral debate? Is it a realistic solution to a problem that isn't going to go away overnight, and a good way to enjoy our rich and varied lifestyles responsibly, or is it just the latest excuse that big businesses have found to keep us buying polluting products?
Its a difficult one. We have offset our carbon usage to ensure that our baby clothes come from a 'climate neutral' company (we design). We also use local manufacturers to minimise air travel. Simultaneously we are making the effort to minimise our initial carbon impacts, and equally importantly, those of the supply chain upstream from us. Ultimately however, it requires serious buying power to negotiate carbon reduction in the value chain, and that power must come from the consumer.
To that end, carbon offsetting should be seen as a tool to help us get there.
Richard,
Posted by: Richard A | September 21, 2007 8:00 PM