How Carbon Offsets Work

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A carbon offset is a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions that is not required by law and would not have happened without financial support from the carbon offset market.

You can use carbon offsets to reduce your carbon footprint.

What is a “Carbon Footprint”?

When you use energy or products manufactured with fossil fuels, you generate carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. The combination of emissions caused by your home, transportation, and daily life is known as your “carbon footprint.”

There are many ways to reduce your carbon footprint—you can drive
a hybrid car, use compact fluorescent lighting, and eat local food.
View more green tips.

But even if you take every energy-saving step, if you are a 21st-century human, you will leave a carbon footprint. Using carbon offsets, you can counteract the greenhouse gas emissions that you cannot avoid causing.

How Carbon Offsets Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

There are two types of carbon offsets:

1.    “Vintage” carbon offsets support the continuing operation of existing carbon projects.
2.    Help Build™ carbon offsets help fund new carbon projects.

With NativeEnergy’s Help Build™ carbon offsets, you play a direct role in financing new renewable energy and carbon avoidance projects. These projects displace electricity from fossil fuels and reduce carbon emissions on your behalf.

 

How Help Build™ Carbon Offsets Work:
Sometimes carbon projects under development—especially small, community-based ones—need additional upfront revenue to be built. Our customers purchase the carbon offsets that a project is conservatively estimated to generate over a fixed period. This provides critical funding for project construction. In return, the project reduces greenhouse gas emissions on their behalf.

All Help Build™ carbon projects are third-party validated and all carbon offsets are third-party verified. For more information, visit our certification and project performance pages.

Take Action

Reducing your carbon footprint with NativeEnergy carbon offsets is simple:

1. Calculate your carbon footprint
   Quantify the greenhouse gas emissions from your household, travel, or business.
2. Reduce your footprint with NativeEnergy carbon offsets
   Purchase carbon offsets through our carbon calculators or our quick purchase tool.

Questions? Read our FAQs page or contact us at 800-924-6826 x200 or support@nativeenergy.com.