Ask HN: Best way to offset personal carbon emissions
I'm interested in offsetting my carbon emissions for flights, commuting, etc. I know there are services out there that offer to sell offsets, but I don't know which are effective and reputable.
If you want to say "Come to our music festival, we bought carbon offsets, it is good for the Earth!" that might be worth it for you.
If, for instance, people say they will preserve forest or plant trees there is no guarantee that 30 years from now the trees will still be there. Many of these schemes involve countries with weak institutions and who knows what will happen.
"Green Energy" is similarly problematic. If the money you spend on electricity goes to building new windmills or solar panels than maybe it is a good thing. If it goes to people who built windmills 20 years ago it has no impact. Even though institutions are stronger in the developed world, regulators with no skin in the game are no match for companies that can feed back a large percentage of their earnings into lawyers.
It may not be an option in your area, but you could switch to a green energy company. The actual lines going to the house/apartment don't change because the grid is shared.
[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_economy_in_aircraft#Examp...