What are Voluntary Carbon Offsets?

The voluntary carbon market isn't new. The first record of a business voluntarily offsetting it's carbon footprint occurred in 1989 when AES Corp., an American electric company payed farmers in Guatemala to plant 50 million eucalyptus and pine trees on their land.

In addition to philanthropic and marketing motivations AES hoped to reduce it's carbon footprint.

Since the deal wasn't forced upon AES by legislation or global treaty, it marked the beginning of the voluntary carbon market.

In spite of the controversy surrounding the business, Voluntary Carbon Offsets continue to provide a way for businesses and individuals to help reduce their Carbon Footprint.

Among the biggest concerns are:

1. Education: Many people are just beginning to realize that their actions and lifestyle choices are having an impact on the planet. As this realization begins to sink in, we're hoping they'll want to learn how to reduce that impact. Our education section offers an ever-growing list of changes people can make in their lives. When they've reduced their emissions as much as their circumstances allow we offer a way for them to offset the rest. Offsetting Carbon is new concept to most Americans. We offer them access to the education they need to make an informed decision about how to offset their carbon footprint.
   
2. Transparency: One of the biggest concerns most people have with buying voluntary carbon offsets is that they don't really know how their money is being used. We're proud of the work we're doing and  invite anyone to visit our reforestation projects. 
3. Additionality: This will probably continue to be one of the most hotly debated issues in the carbon offset world. Simply put, the test of additionality is whether a project would have occurred if it were not for the carbon offset funds. Our projects pass this test easily. 
4. Verification: As legitimate standards emerge in the voluntary carbon offset business it will be simple for any third-party verifier to visit our projects. The gates are always open to anyone interested in our reforestation projects. We feel that the more people that get involved in rain forest reforestation the better.
5. Project Type: There's a obvious divide in the offset community between those who think offset funds should be used for energy efficiency and renewable energy projects and those who think that offset dollars should be used to fund forestry projects that sequester, or absorb, excess CO² from the atmosphere. We believe that both are needed in order to address the issue. Our primary focus is on reforestation of the rain forest. We believe that these projects provide the best all-around benefit for everyone involved. 
6. Permanence: Is the carbon permanently reduced or locked away? This is one of the big arguments that some people have with forestry projects. ‘What if there’s a forest fire?’; ‘What if a storm knocks the trees down?’; ‘What if the trees aren’t cared for and they die?’; ‘When the tree dies it releases its carbon back into the atmosphere.’

7. Our system addresses all these concerns nicely. With an average of 160 inches of rain per year in tropical areas, forest fires are rare. As the teak trees we plant as the pioneer species in our reforestation projects are harvested, they are processed into lumber and furniture. The carbon is permanently "locked up" in the wood.