Reduce My Footprint gets Convention consumer push
ABTA and the Association of Independent Tour Opeerators’ Reduce My Footprint carbon emissions reduction initiative is being launched to consumers at the Travel Convention in Tenerife.
The scheme, run by Carbon Offsets Limited, aims to encourage travellers to reduce emissions at home and on their travels.
Reduce My Footprint uses a carbon calculator, which works out carbon emissions for flights, car use and domestic/office energy use. Users can then understand their carbon footprint and how much it would cost to offset.
Businesses and consumers can then choose how much they wish to contribute towards offsetting and destination projects, according to ABTA.
The association’s head of consumer affairs Keith Richards said: “So far, travellers have found it hard to get excited by ‘offsetting,’ as they are often confused by the process and can’t relate to where their hard-earned cash is going to.
“Reduce My Footprint is about trying to re-balance our lives and putting money into projects that will make a difference.
“Twenty five percent of our emissions come from our own households and Reduce My Footprint provides basic tips on how you can reduce your emissions at home, with your car and before and while you travel. What you can’t reduce you can offset.”
From every £1 spent, 50p will go to Certified Emission Reductions. The current CER project is a wind farm project in India, which provides power to the local grid without using fossil fuels.
Thirty pence goes to independent UK charity the Travel Foundation to help with energy reduction programmes in tourism destinations in the UK and overseas, including solar power in Maasai Villages in Kenya and a wind farm in Tamil Nadu, southern India.
Twenty pence goes to Verified Emission Reduction projects which rely on independent, reputable organisations to approve them. The current one is the ‘Basa Magogo’ project in South Africa which gives low-income families information on how to make more fuel efficient fires for cooking.
by Phil Davies
Phil Davies
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