Here we look at how I reduced my carbon footprint for November 2022 with the Prony Wind Power emissions reduction project, plus more. Find inspiration for how to reduce your emissions by following my monthly carbon offset series, which is part of our series on Living Sustainably.
How I Offset My Emissions
Most of my emissions are tracked and offset using the CoGo Carbon Tracker app that works like this:
- Install CoGo for free from the App Store or Play Store
- Link your bank accounts and cards to the app to automatically track your carbon footprint
- Offset your emissions by simply clicking ‘offset’ to pay for verified emissions reduction projects from South Pole
- South Pole emissions reduction projects reduce emissions now, not at some point in the future
- These projects help to protect biodiversity and bring real benefits to local communities
I also use:
- Trainhugger to plant a tree for every train ticket
- freetree.io to plant trees for free for my online purchases
- Ecosia.org to plant trees for free from my web searches
Why I Offset My Emissions
The science shows clearly that in order to avert the worst impacts of climate change and preserve a livable planet, global temperature increase needs to be limited to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. Currently, the Earth is already about 1.1°C warmer than it was in the late 1800s, and emissions continue to rise. To keep global warming to no more than 1.5°C – as called for in the Paris Agreement – emissions need to be reduced by 45% by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050.
If you think that 1.5°C is a small increase in temperature just consider your own body: A healthy average body temperature is 37°C and a high average temperature for adults is 38°C. The difference of just a few degrees is the difference between being healthy or being in hospital or worse – planet Earth’s ecosystem is just as sensitive – that’s why limiting the increase in the average global temperature to 1.5°C is so important. It’s also essential to remember the whilst 1.5°C is the global average limit, some countries will experience significantly higher temperature increases.
The current average carbon footprint of a UK citizen is approx. 1,058kg every month. However, to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, it’s recommended that each of us has a carbon footprint of only 180kg a month by 2030. The CoGo Carbon Tracker app enables me to reduce my emissions now whilst I find ways to reduce my consumption, waste, and impact.
The point of this carbon offset series is to put me under the spotlight, to push myself to do as much as possible to live a climate positive lifestyle, and to inspire others by showing that we don’t have to wait to be told what to do, we can reduce our emissions now while we wait for green and renewable technology to become affordable for the majority of people, and while businesses improve their own carbon footprint in the race for net zero by 2050.
My Carbon Footprint for November 2022
In November my carbon footprint was down from 1,127 kg to 573 kg: The same as cutting down 9 trees or driving 1,422 miles in a car. Closer to the target of 180kg per month for a sustainable lifestyle. Let’s get into the detail to see what happened:
My Carbon Footprint for November Was Made Up Of:
- Food and drink = 220 kg (up from 216 kg the previous month)
- Around my home = 0 kg (same as October)
- Stuff I buy = 39 kg (down from 52 kg)
- Getting around = 253 kg (down from 721 kg)
- Unknown = 60 kg (down from 136 kg)
Taking a Closer Look at Each of the Categories:
In ‘Food and Drink’, there’s nothing major that jumps out from my carbon footprint. I’m already buying my weekly shop from Abel & Cole where everything is organic and they do lots to help with sustainability. I ate out a few times in November so that bumped up my carbon footprint. I could reduce this in future by taking more food to cook on the Trangia camping stove.
In ‘Around the Home’, 0 emissions as I didn’t spend any money in this category, BOOM!
In ‘Getting Around’, this month’s emissions are from a tank of diesel (150 kg), a flight to see my family in Scotland, and a hotel for a work trip. So there isn’t much that jumps out as a bad part of my lifestyle. I could reduce this in future when I can afford to switch to a more fuel efficient car.
In ‘Stuff I buy’, most of my emissions here are in the Books category: One book was a purchase I would rarely make as normally buy second-hand books, but I met a local author so I decided to purchase his book from the local bookstore (it’s a great read, The Long Lost Log). There’s also 17 kg of emissions on having some content written so that’s not quite right as that’s almost 4x the emissions compared to buying a brand new hardback book…
In ‘Unknown’, there are a random collection of emission in this category, such as a train ticket, food, trip to the RAF Museum, online subscription etc. Not much here that I could reduce, although there are some Christmas gifts here that are just once a year.
Using the CoGo Carbon Tracker app I was able to easily offset my emissions by purchasing an emissions reduction project through South Pole.
This Month’s Carbon Offsets
1. Using South Pole for Emissions Reduction Projects
This month I chose South Pole’s Prony Wind Power in New Caledonia because it generates sustainable energy from wind for this island nation. Here’s more information on the project, taken directly from SouthPole.com:
THE STORY: The Pacific islands region, including New Caledonia, faces increasing environmental and socioeconomic pressures exacerbated by global climate change and climate variability. Under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), small island developing states are recognised as being particularly vulnerable to climate change. Pacific island countries are already severely affected by climate variability and extremes, and they remain extremely vulnerable to future changes.
THE SOLUTION: This project involves six wind farms located in two different sites, Kafeate and Prony, on the island of New Caledonia. The sites were installed by the company Aerowatt and consist of 116 wind turbines providing a total capacity of 31 MW with an estimated yearly production of 40 GWh of electricity which is then exported to the New Caledonian grid. The project, therefore, replaces grid electricity that is 80% produced by fossil-fuel power plants.
THE IMPACT: By reducing the amount of greenhouse gas emissions in electricity generation, this project makes a significant contribution to climate action both in New Caledonia and globally. Air pollutants such as sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and particles resulting from the electricity generation from fossil fuels are reduced. The project has boosted local small economies by creating local employment during both the construction and operational phases, also stimulating technology and know-how transfer. In addition, it proves the viability of sustainable development in a vulnerable island nation, promoting climate awareness and future climate action for the pacific island region.
This project is certified as: Gold Standard Voluntary Emissions Reduction (GSVER)
And it supports the UN Sustainable Development Goals for:
You can find out more about this emission reduction project at SouthPole.com.
2. Using Trainhugger to Plant a Tree for Free for Every Train Ticket
I didn’t actually have any train travel in November so the numbers are the same as August: Using Trainhugger to book my train tickets I’ve now planted 3 trees, travelled 731.8km, and saved 2673.2kg of CO2, which is the equivalent of saving 0.3 years of home energy use, taking 0.6 petrol cars off the road, or saving 8.0 square meters of arctic ice. All pretty good considering I hardly ever travel by train.
3. Using freetree.io to Plant Trees for Free for My Online Purchases
Unfortunately I had to do a reinstall on my laptop so the previous figures went to zero and I had to start again: Using the freetree.io Chrome extension to plant trees for free with my online purchases I’ve planted 6 trees so far, which is part of a total of 47,459 trees already planted by freetree.io users, as of 4th January 2023.
4. Using Ecosia.org to Plant Trees for Free from My Web Searches
Using Ecosia as my search engine on desktop and mobile to plant trees for free I’ve planted 5,917 trees so far, which is part of a total of 165,461,130 trees planted by the Ecosia community, as of 4th January 2023.
Now Let’s Recap About Carbon Offsets
Carbon offsets are not the solution, but they are better than doing nothing while I work to reduce my impact, and while it becomes possible to move 100% to using only green, renewable, and sustainable technology.
Emissions reduction projects can generate two types of offsets:
- “Ex ante” means that the certificates are issued before the actual emissions reduction (e.g. tree planting)
- “Ex post” certificates are only issued after the emissions reduction (e.g. projects that replace coal-fired power stations with renewable)
The CoGo carbon tracker app automatically tracks your carbon footprint, and makes it easy and low cost to purchase emissions reduction projects from South Pole. As South Pole focuses on verified climate protection, over 99% of the emission credits from South Pole’s portfolio come from “ex-post” climate protection projects, where the emissions are reduced before you receive the certificates, which you will typically receive within minutes of paying for the offset project. Read more about South Pole Carbon Offset Projects.
Using the CoGo Carbon Tracker app and purchasing verified emissions reduction projects through South Pole; using Trainhugger to book your train tickets; using the freetree.io Chrome extension to plant trees for free with your online purchases; and using Ecosia as your search engine to plant trees for free, are four very powerful, easy, free and low cost ways to quickly reduce your emissions whilst you transition your life to green, renewable, and sustainable.
Here Is What You Can Do
- Install the CoGo Carbon Tracker app for free from the App Store or Play Store
- Book your train tickets through Trainhugger
- Install the freetree.io Chrome extension
- And use Ecosia as your search engine
- Be inspired. We can help climate change if we do something about it
- Talk to your friends and colleagues
- Share this with others
Where Next?
There is so much inspiring information to give you ideas of how to help climate change by growing, eating, and living sustainably, you can:
- Read Our Articles
- Sign-Up to Our Free Email Newsletter
- Get Started and Vote with Your Money
- Try the Sustainability Roadmap
- Use the Company Directory
- Support Nafford Junction
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- Become a Patron to Give Regular Contributions
- Buy Me a Coffee to Make a One-Off Contribution
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Production Notes
This was produced by me, James Walters, as a personal project to help stop climate change by inspiring others to grow, eat, and live sustainably.
Any advice given is the opinion of those involved and does not constitute medical, financial, or legal advice.
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