NEW YORK, Feb. 22, 2007(CBS) Last year the new oxford American dictionary declared "carbon
neutral" the word of the year, but many people still don't know exactly what it
means.
For part of The Early Show's week-long series
"Going Green," co-anchor Russ Mitchell examines what it means to be
carbon neutral. You first must calculate to what degree your lifestyle impacts
the environment, and then do something to offset it. The idea is catching on.
"I'm very concerned about global warming," said Roberta Messalle, who
tries to offset the carbon she produces. "And over the years, I have made a
number of adjustments. If I'm in a room, I use the space heater rather than
heating the entire house. I use compact florescent bulbs because they consume
less energy."
When Messalle heard about carbon offsetting, she went
online and calculated her carbon footprint and made a donation.
"I do
buy into the idea that it is possible for every person to be carbon neutral,"
Messalle said.
There are now a growing number of companies with names
like Terrapass, Native Energy and CarbonFund.org which offer to help people
offset the negative effects of modern life.
"We make it easy and
affordable to help individuals and businesses to reduce the impact they have on
global warming," CarbonFund.org Executive Director Eric Carlson said.
Carlson said that the average American is responsible for 50,000 pounds
of carbon dioxide emissions each year. That is quite a substantial carbon
footprint, which he defined as each person's "cumulative impact on global
warming from the energy that you use from the electricity for your home, the gas
in your car, flying in a plane."
His foundation uses money it receives
from donations to fund carbon reducing projects such as developing renewable
energy like wind and solar power. The idea is that by supporting clean energy
sources more carbon is being prevented from being produced.
"The goal is
to drive the price of clean technology below the price of dirty technology, so
that subsidies aren't needed," Carlson said.
Some celebrities have taken
up the cause. Dave Matthews retroactively offset every show his band has ever
played. George Clooney reportedly produced "Syriana" as a carbon neutral movie.
The cosmetic company Lancôme recently announced it was embracing offsetting.
"All five Lancôme spokes-models will have their travel offset for 2007,"
said Kate Babb, vice president media relations at Lancôme.
There are a
number of companies that include offsetting on their Web sites. When you buy
product at Gaiam.com, you're asked if you'd like to offset the shipping for an
extra $2 — that money recently helped fund the planted of 14,000 trees in
Mississippi.
Carlson calculated Mitchell's carbon footprint using
an online calculator.
"What we're going to do is enter in the amount of
electricity you use, the natural gas to heat your home, how much you drive and
your air travel," Carlson said. "It automatically figures it out for you and
what we're showing here is that you're responsible directly for 17.88 tons and
it will cost about $98 to offset that … You are about exactly average."
Messalle says for her carbon offsetting is just one of the things she's
doing in an effort to live a conservation-minded lifestyle.
"I see it as
part of a total package," Messalle said. "You go around your home, you make as
many changes as you can, you contribute to something beyond
that."