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neutralizing my carbon footprint

 
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Today I bought a coupon with which I will neutralize 4 tons a year for the next four years... I am wondering if anyone has already thought in this direction, and if you have ever heard anything about it???
It cost me 500€,
I mean I wanted to at least neutralize my footprint a little and help the planet.
?
?
?
 
steward
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Welcome to the forum!

Have you read Paul's book, Building a Better World in Your Backyard?

https://www.buildingabetterworldbook.com/

This book might help with ways to lower your carbon footprint.

There is also a video I would like to recommend:

https://permies.com/t/241470/Carbon-Footprint

 
steward & author
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I would much rather reduce my footprint and save money at the same time.

 
Anne Miller
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Did you know that growing 90% of a family's food in a home garden cuts 10 tons?  That beats 4 tons.

https://gardenmastercourse.com/

https://earthworksmovie.com/

 
r ranson
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My favourite is that gardening saves money thrice.

Less money spent on food.
Less money spent on exercise.
Better health so less money spent there too.

I know,  I know, reducing the footprint is important too.  Just most of the real world solutions also save money which is my biggest motivator.
 
master gardener
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One of my favorite ways to reduce my footprint is through composting.

In my eyes, reducing the amount of refuse that ends up in a landfill or an incinerator is a good thing. Proper composting methods not only reduces my carbon footprint from the waste aspect but also by reducing/eliminating the need for fertilizer to get yields which also contributes to the loss of carbon.
 
Anne Miller
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there will probably be a big change among people, so that something can really change together, Before it really is too late for all of us.



I agree, let's all do something ...







 
Anne Miller
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Permaculture victories ....

https://permies.com/t/165529/permaculture/Permaculture-Victories-stories
 
author & steward
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I think what helps best is personal lifestyle changes for regular people. My husband and I have been on our homestead for 15 years, and one of our top goals has been to be more responsible with our energy usage. Some of the things we've done:

- gave up air conditioning
- use an energy efficient woodstove for heat
- 1 vehicle for the two of us
- keep trips to town down to 2 to 3 per week, rarely traveling more than 15 miles per trip
- grow as much of our own food as possible with permaculture techniques
- almost all our clothing is recycled or repurposed from a thrift store
- use cold water for washing laundry
- line dry laundry
-  no dry cleaning
-  plant trees
- try to buy stuff with simpler packaging
- cut down on buying stuff. About the only stuff we take to the landfill is from stuff we bought. Everything we produce here gets re-used, re-purposed, or composted.
- use hand tools when possible
- use a solar oven often in summer for cooking
- simplify meals and make a lot of one pot items like soups, stews, and casseroles
- use dedicated solar for things like attic and greenhouse vent fans, barn lights, and recharging AA and AAA batteries for our flashlights
- we aren't off grid, but we have a solar panel array and battery bank to power a chest freezer and small auxiliary fridge
- we collect as much rainwater as possible and channel greywater into a pasture swale

That's what I can think of off the top of my head. With all these changes we've managed to cut our electric usage down to less than 15 kWh per day for the two of us. And I feel like we're healthier for our lifestyle.

One of the keys to success, I think, is learning how to be content with less. For example, we don't pay for a television service, so we aren't bombarded with advertising aiming to make us want stuff. We're learning to be content with a simple daily lifestyle routine with simple things.
 
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Hear me out: reduce your carbon footprint by using and supporting your public library.

1. They buy books I'd love to read once. There are many interesting books out there, but not really that many that I want to read over and over. This allows me to "impulse borrow" instead of "impulse purchase".

2. They buy lots of really good plant, permaculture, building, repair, sewing etc books. If I can talk the library into buying a quality book (Jacke's Forrest Gardening - check. Restoration Agriculture - check. Better World Book - check) then lots of people will have access to the book who might never have heard of it or thought to buy it. If the library sees these books being borrowed, they're more likely to buy more in that genre.

3. Librarians are nice people. Permies are nice people. It's a perfect match! It's a way of helping build community. It's a form of people care.
 
Timothy Norton
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I was thinking a bit more about carbon and I almost forgot another way of sequestering.

Biochar is carbon negative! I have outdoor fires from time to time for both pleasure and cleanup of oddball sticks. By utilizing that time and material to turn some of the combustibles into biochar I can sequester away some of that carbon while also benefiting my soil. It also persists in the soil in a positive way!
 
r ranson
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Jay Angler wrote:Hear me out: reduce your carbon footprint by using and supporting your public library.



Absolutely!

My library loans out seeds (some libraries also loan out garden beds for a year) and has free classes on gardening and seed saving.

I also love that I can borrow DVDs which dramatically cuts down on...
a) the cost of streaming services - for which my friends pay up to $400 per MONTH!
b) the environmental cost of high-speed streaming videos (way more than making a DVD that is then used by thousands of people - I know it's thousands because I'm on the waitlist for some).

The library also loans out home testing kits - kits with tools to find out where we can upgrade our house to save money and the environment.  Draft and insulation detectors so we can improve and save money on heat  (and carbon I suppose).  Ghost load detectors (save money on power... and carbon since that's the thing), water flow detectors so we can...

You know what, just about everything I do to reduce my carbon footprint improves my standard of living and bank account.  Thankfully, the local communities are using this money-saving feature to help educate people on how they can reduce their impact on the environment.  
 
r ranson
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Some libraries have repair cafes.  You can bring your small appliance or bike or whatever, and someone will teach you how to fix it for free!  Some repair cafes also supply the tools and parts needed as they are donated by local businesses.  

Or you can always ask on permies if you are like me and avoid human interaction at all costs.  https://permies.com/f/255/repair
 
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Timothy Norton wrote:
Biochar is carbon negative! I have outdoor fires from time to time for both pleasure and cleanup of oddball sticks. By utilizing that time and material to turn some of the combustibles into biochar I can sequester away some of that carbon while also benefiting my soil. It also persists in the soil in a positive way!



Amen brother! And it greatly helps the whole ecology use the soil for productive benefit.  

I also bike to work, skateboarding and for shopping, and yes, to the library.  Going on walks with spouse and dog is a very sustainable form of recreation.

All of these solutions make lots more sense to me than buying a coupon, which seems tailor made to all of the crooks I keep reading about that are stealing out of the public trough while trying to pretend to be helping the environment.

John S
PDX OR
 
Anne Miller
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I like the idea of tax credit to help with my carbon footprint that this article talks about:

https://permies.com/t/178265/Credits-ramp-biochar-practice-Carbon

I also like this article that suggests biochar as carbon sequestration:

https://permies.com/t/238665/Biochar-carbon-sequestration
 
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Hi Villi Doll.  I have no idea what a coupon to help neutralize a carbon footprint is, so I cannot answer you.  I live in France so I guess things are a bit different here.

My lifestyle is pretty much similar to Leigh Tate's (see above) - give or take a couple of things.  For instance, I never had to give up air conditioning since I never had it.  We also have one car for 2, but our trip to the nearby small town is 2 or 3 times a month.  We lived totally off grid for 12 years and managed very well on 2kWh a day.  We moved to a new property a couple of years ago and are just about to go off grid again and we are a bit concerned that we seemed to have increased are consumption to nearly 4kWh a day, so I guess we'll have to take a few steps to improve.

One thing has helped me lately.  Once a month, I do an online shop and I go and fetch it at a collection point.  A few months ago, I noticed that at the end of my shopping list, just before paying, there was a note telling me that my groceries purchase was the equivalent of a x kilometers car journey.  I was horrified at the amount and quickly altered my shopping habits.  Such a small thing, yet so powerful.

So if a coupon, whatever that is, is helping your journey towards a lighter footprint, then by all means, go for it.  After all, a  journey of a thousand miles starts with one step.
 
Leigh Tate
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One idea from permaculture that can really help is the concept of stacking functions. This basically means finding more than one use for everything with the end result of no waste.

For example, here's a diagram I made for one of my eBooks, using hay as an example. Hay is primarily carbon, but it has many useful functions, and ultimately feeds the soil organisms and produces more food.
stacking-functions.JPG
diagram of hay used in stacking functions
diagram of hay used in stacking functions
 
Jay Angler
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I make biochar in my wood stove on a small scale to help off-set my carbon footprint. Some of the biochar gets spread in my duck shelters, which then sometimes gets shovelled out into compost bins, and from there tops up the garden beds.  https://permies.com/t/73894/Making-biochar-wood-stove

I would *really* like to make it on a larger scale, particularly with things like the invasive English Ivy that can't easily be composted. It generates a huge amount of biomass - I'd love to put it to good use. Now if only I could find a couple of small barrels like Pearl did, I'd be in business. Like her, I'd be a bit worried about trying to manage a full size barrel, as I'm on the small size.  https://permies.com/t/235724/biochar-burn-Itty-bitty-Pearl

Biochar is a great way to stack functions. Generally I am starting with waste material, or at least material in the wrong place. Pine-cones on the road are annoying if I hit them with a wheel of my cart, so some of those go in. My neighbour generates more sawdust from his mill than he can use, and it's too fine for bird bedding. Mother Nature is producing way too many bits of English Ivy and Daphne, and during windstorms, too many branches in some places. Turning all that into long-sequestered carbon that helps microorganisms which in turn help my gardens and forest, is a win for me.



 
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Vili Doll wrote:Today I bought a coupon with which I will neutralize 4 tons a year for the next four years... I am wondering if anyone has already thought in this direction, and if you have ever heard anything about it???
It cost me 500€,
I mean I wanted to at least neutralize my footprint a little and help the planet.
?
?
?



This sounds like a carbon offsetting scheme. You pay your money, someone goes planting trees or something - to bury carbon. While you continue polluting...
The science says there's too much CO2 in the atmosphere, so we need to bury it and NOT create more. So everyone suggesting ways to cut their emissions are on the right track.
Basically, it comes down to philosophies:
*Share - tools, houses, vehicles, public facilities, natural resources
*Care - for people, nature, everything you or others value
*Link - let every action satisfy more than one purpose if you can
*Enjoy - what comes your way, rather than striving for the hard to get (unless you love hard work and banging your head against brick walls). Why take a handsome salary that requires you so spend half of it commuting, eating into home-time, and producing CO2 and other pollutants? We have brains to work out how to make the best of our situations.
 
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Anthony Powell wrote:

Vili Doll wrote:
This sounds like a carbon offsetting scheme. You pay your money, someone goes planting trees or something - to bury carbon. While you continue polluting...
The science says there's too much CO2 in the atmosphere, so we need to bury it and NOT create more. So everyone suggesting ways to cut their emissions are on the right track.
Basically, it comes down to philosophies:
*Share - tools, houses, vehicles, public facilities, natural resources
*Care - for people, nature, everything you or others value
*Link - let every action satisfy more than one purpose if you can
*Enjoy - what comes your way, rather than striving for the hard to get (unless you love hard work and banging your head against brick walls). Why take a handsome salary that requires you so spend half of it commuting, eating into home-time, and producing CO2 and other pollutants? We have brains to work out how to make the best of our situations.



This really sums up all the contributions that were made by the previous replies. I think a lot of things were covered in this forum, at least the most important ones. One thing that is important to mention as well is the fact that the "carbon footprint", at least in the individual level, is a term that does not make much sense. It was crated by an oil company to deviate our attention from the actually huge damage that multinational companies create and governments support. Although we can, and should, strive as individuals to have a lesser impact on the planet, the most impactful changes can be made by these huge entities, and should not be just thrown on consumers to make them feel guilty. I know of a climate scientist on youtube who explains this (and more) in a very fun and accessible way. On this specific topic, you should watch this video of his: https://youtu.be/1J9LOqiXdpE?si=dnuVl9ltZZPs90Ac

If you like his crazyness like I do, you're free to explore his channel further. If not, I also recommend many other awesome youtube creators who are scientist that give their own advices and information, like the channel "Not just bikes", "Our Changing Climate", "Sabine Hossenfelder", "ClimateAdam", etc. (there are the names that come right to my head, but there are many others).

Good luck on your journey and don't be too hard on yourself, fellow earthling!

 
Anthony Powell
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In his book 'How Bad are Bananas', Mike Berners-Lee goes through the carbon footprint of almost everything, from a glass of tap water to the world's military. In the background, he's slogged through everything, so to the CO2 from your exhaust pipe has to be added the emissions extracting it from the ground, transporting and processing it, and all the manufacture of that infrastructure to do that, along with the admin, advertising etc. Which all makes knocking your emissions down all the harder, within a conventional lifestyle...
https://howbadarebananas.com/
 
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