4 Steps to Personal Carbon Neutrality

Whether directly or indirectly, most modern activities release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. You add carbon emissions to the environment every time you drive a car, turn on a computer, or cook the family's dinner.

But can polluting emissions from one person really harm the planet? Multiply those emissions by the world's six-billion-strong population, and the result is a planet that is being ravaged by the effects of climate change. You can slow the melting of the polar ice caps and the rising of the oceans by going carbon neutral.

The idea behind carbon neutrality is simple - for every ton of carbon you release into the atmosphere, you purchase a ton's worth of carbon offsets.

A carbon offset is a credit purchased from a company that actively reduces the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere.

Wind and solar farms, geothermal plants, and carbon sequestration projects all offer carbon offsets. These initiatives keep carbon dioxide out of the air, which in turn offsets the carbon you release into the air. So how can you offset your carbon emissions?

Step #1: Reduce your carbon emissions

You might be doing a good deed by going carbon neutral, but that good deed will cost you - carbon offsets can be pricey. By reducing your overall emissions now, you'll end up paying less for your carbon offsets. Focus on simple and cost-effective measures to reduce your emissions - use public transit, take the train instead of a plane, and buy energy efficient appliances.

Step #2: Decide just how neutral you want to be

Going completely carbon neutral can be expensive, so many people choose to offset only some of their activities. A business executive might choose to offset her plane travel. A family might decide to offset their home electricity use. And many brides are looking to offset the carbon emissions from their weddings. You might want to start your carbon neutral life by offsetting one of the leading causes of carbon emissions - car travel.

Step #3: Use a carbon calculator to determine your total carbon emissions

If you're looking to offset your carbon emissions, you'll need to know exactly how much pollution you produce. On the Internet, you'll find dozens of free-to-use carbon calculators. Some calculators are specific to one emission source - airplane or car travel, for instance. Other calculators help you figure out your daily carbon dioxide output. Each calculator gives you a different number; some calculators factor all polluting emissions into the equation, while others only consider carbon dioxide emissions.

Don't let the confusing selection of calculators put you off living a carbon neutral life. Just answer each question honestly and accurately, and use the final tally to purchase your carbon offsets.

Step #4: Purchase carbon offsets

You can find dozens of vendors selling carbon offsets online. But don't just sign on with the first vendor you come across - do your research first. The carbon offset market is largely unregulated, and price and quality can vary greatly from vendor to vendor. If you're not sure how to tell the environmental warriors from the scam artists, look for a seal of approval from an official organization or accredited group. All offset vendors should be part of the International Carbon Reduction and Offset Alliance (ICROA); this organization requires all members to follow rules and regulations under its “Code of Best Practice.” Also look for projects that meet the Gold Standard, the highest standard for carbon offsets recognized by World Wildlife Federation International and Greenpeace International.

Once you've purchased your carbon offsets, you can rest easy knowing that your daily activities are not harming the earth. But your work is not yet done. Once a year, review your emissions using a carbon calculator. With a new awareness of the state of the planet, you may find that you produced less CO2 than the year before. If so, you can purchase fewer carbon offsets next year - or you can choose to offset even more of your emissions. Either way, you're giving the planet a healthy future - and ensuring that you don't have to swim to work.
The Rest @ Earth Times

CICS Awarded the Bat3ch Verification Process for The ClimAte Registry

May 19, 2009 -- HOUSTON, TX, USA 18 May 2009 Complete Integrated Certification Services (CICS), a global leader in CO2 verification, has been appointed as the first official Batch Verifier to Members of The Climate Registry. This non-profit organization establishes consistent, transparent standards throughout North America for businesses and governments to calculate, verify, and publically report their carbon footprints in a single, unified registry ― ultimately helping them to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Successfully completing the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) GHG accreditation program (based on the internationally-recognized ISO 14065 standard), CICS will work within The Climate Registry’s rigorous and comprehensive standards.

Members under the batch verification process will be provided with accurate, complete, consistent, transparent, and verified GHG emissions data supported by a robust reporting and verification infrastructure as part of a three step process:

1. Calculate: each year all Members must calculate all GHG emissions (CO2, CH4, N2O, PFC, HFC, and SF6) from operations in North America (Canada, United States, and Mexico) using the General Reporting Protocol.

2. Report: Members must enter their GHG emissions into the Climate Registry Information System (CRIS), an online GHG calculation, reporting and verification tool that enables public access to verified emission reports.

3. Verify: all Members must then obtain annual third-party verification to ensure the accuracy of the data.

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CICS can also offer verification under the California Climate Action Registry and is positioned to participate in the forthcoming mandatory schemes across North America.

Shaun Bainbridge, Director at CICS, comments: “GHGs are having a major impact on the global climate and it is through important initiatives such as The Climate Registry that organizations can calculate and report their GHG emissions. CICS will work in conjunction with The Registry to ensure the accuracy of Members’ data – a critical part of ensuring robust and transparent reporting.”

Tony Kinsella, Managing Director of CICS, adds: “This is a very prestigious and important appointment for CICS, particularly in light of the strong competition we faced. Covering industries from healthcare and manufacturing to transportation, government and defense, the CICS team is ideally placed to work alongside Members to ensure completely independent verification of their GHG emissions and play a role in tackling the effects of climate change.”

About CICS

With Regional North American offices in Houston, Texas, CICS provides industry leading experience and knowledge of CO2/GHG verification under both mandatory and voluntary (carbon foot printing) schemes throughout North America. A range of related ISO certification services is also available. http://www.cicsglobal.com/

The Rest @ Free Press Release

Becoming a Lead Verifier and Verifying Body

The Climate Action Reserve and several other greenhouse gas (GHG) programs and registries are partnering with the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) to accredit independent third party Validation and Verification Bodies under to ISO14065:2007 and the International Accreditation Forum, Inc. (IAF) guidance and under their accompanying protocols.

This coordinated effort will help streamline the accreditation process for GHG Verification Bodies in North America and create consistency with international practice in relation to GHG emissions verification. Only Verification Bodies currently approved by the Reserve or those involved in the ANSI accreditation program may provide verification services to Reserve project developers. The Reserve is no longer accrediting new Verification Bodies but in the future could partner with other organizations to provide accreditation services.

ANSI is currently accepting applications for the GHG accreditation program. For more information or to request an application, please visit ANSI’s website for details on how to apply. Accreditation reduces the risk to GHG programs by assuring them that verification bodies are competent to carry out the work they undertake. It also provides criteria for assessing and recognizing the competence of verification bodies, allowing for a consistent comparable scheme across GHG programs.

To successfully gain approval to conduct verification activities for the Climate Action Reserve, verification bodies must meet the following criteria for both verification body Requirements and Individual Verifier Requirements.

For any individual to be qualified as a Lead Verifier and eligible to conduct verification activities under the Climate Action Reserve, he/she must meet the following criteria:

• Be employed or subcontracted to a verification body accredited under ISO 14065 OR an already approved Verification Body under the Reserve
• Meet internal training requirements, following proper processes and procedures under his/her ISO 14065 accredited Verification Body or already approved Verification Body under the Reserve
• Attend and successfully complete a required Project Verification Body training under the Climate Action Reserve protocols (receive a Certificate of Completion for the training course)
• Be identified as “Lead Verifier” in the Designated Staff, Roles and Responsibilities form submitted by his/her Verification Body to reserve@climateregistry.org
  

Any company or organization seeking to be qualified and eligible to conduct emissions reduction project verification activities must meet ALL of the following criteria:

• Demonstrate a thorough understanding of the Climate Action Reserve Project and Verification Protocols.
• Have a minimum of two staff members designated as Lead Verifiers
• Lead Verifiers are REQUIRED to have completed Reserve training on its project protocols, specific to the sector that the Verification Body is applying to be accredited under.
• Meet the Reserve’s accreditation additional sector specific requirements.

The Rest @ The Climate Reserve