Established in 2004, TerraPass is a social enterprise whose purpose is to generate profit devoted toward the environmental goals of reducing emissions across the United States.  According to their website, TerraPass “funds carbon reductions totaling 3.7 million tons of CO₂ through a total of 17 projects.”

TerraPass achieves this goal by offering the sale of carbon offsets that, in theory, counteract the carbon footprint created by an individual or business.  The general goal is to bring awareness to the fact that everyone should work toward becoming carbon neutral; by knowing how their daily actions affect planetary global warming, purchasing carbon offsets is a way to give back.

TerraPass provides information on how to calculate your carbon footprint – the total amount of CO₂ released into the air’s atmosphere by the actions of an individual or business – through the use of their ‘carbon footprint calculator.’  An individual can calculate their carbon footprint, or energy usage, in three lifestyle categories: at home, driving, and by air travel.

For example, a 2007 Nissan Versa, with a manual transmission, that is driven approximately 12,000 miles annually, has a carbon footprint of 8,385 lbs of CO₂.  In order to cancel out this emission, a one-year carbon offset can be purchased for USD $71.40 which will go to support projects that ‘reduce greenhouse gas emissions.’

TerraPass also offers a wedding carbon footprint calculator which includes taking into factor the number of guests, guest travel, and hotel accommodations.  The TerraPass website includes a list of green products that can be used to help reduce your carbon footprint including energy saving items, gadgets & chargers, water consumption, toys & games, and even gift ideas.

Through third party accreditation, TerraPass ensures that their money is spent as promised and that the quality of offsets adheres to their standards and criteria.  TerraPass also adheres to the standards (Code of Best Practice) as set out by the Climate Action Reserve and the Voluntary Carbon Standard.  TerraPass currently funds projects under three categories: farm power (animal waste), landfill methane gas capture, and generating clean energy from wind farms.

According to the David Suzuki Foundation, a world leader in environmental and global warming causes, TerraPass rates a total score of 78 out of a possible 100 points in their vendor offset survey of twenty social enterprise organizations, which is an average rating.  More specifically, TerraPass rated 11 out of 15 for vendor transparency; 9.7 out of 20 under the auditing category; 7 out of 10 for public education; 20 out of 20 for permanence or durability of the offset benefit; and 15 out of 15 for unique ownership, meaning that “clear ownership rights are established to the greenhouse gas reductions that the offset represents.”

TerraPass members come from across the US and around the world; 64% of them use fluorescent light bulbs, 43% have bought a fuel efficient car, 26% take public transit to work, while 6% have solar panels installed on their homes.

Click here to offset your carbon footprint   NOW!

Sources:
TerraPass
Wikipedia
David Suzuki Foundation