In the beginning of 2022, CSU launched an air travel offset program to continue to work towards becoming a carbon neutral campus. We have been inspired by this to provide an avenue for students to calculate their carbon generated from travel while providing information surrounding verified Carbon Offset partners.

You may be surprised at how little it costs to offset your carbon emissions, or just intrigued to see what emissions travel generates. I plan on visiting my parent’s home in California over Winter break and used this calculator to decide if I should fly or drive based on my emissions. Flying produces .45 metric tons of carbon, versus driving which produces .31 metric tons each way for a total of .62 tons. This is because while planes emit more carbon than cars, they transport more individuals, spreading out the per-person carbon footprint.

A metric ton of carbon seems really hard to quantify. We all know carbon production isn’t good, but it’s hard to gauge. An average US citizen produces 16 tons a year, compared to the worldwide 4 ton average. A ton of carbon is equivalent to 138 meat-based meals or 1,961 vegetarian meals. A ton of carbon fits into a 27 x 27 x 27 foot cube and is the equivalent of 2,204.6 pounds. To capture a ton of carbon 50 trees must grow for a year.  If you are interested in calculating your own annual carbon emissions consider checking out this link.

Now that we have ways of calculating our carbon, we can consider donating to local carbon offset programs such as the CO Carbon Fund, Routt County CAP Fund, & TWP. To offset my carbon, I donated the recommended $7 to the CCF’s Larimer County Landfill Methane capture, located in our own backyard. For the price of a large Starbucks, I can do my part in adding renewable energy to the grid while reducing methane pollution!