Carbon Neutral Mission

Last summer I lead a Youth Mission Trip to New Orleans to get involved in some relief work following Hurricane Katrina. We flew from Edinburgh to Atlanta and then on to New Orleans. I've calculated the CO2 for this trip  @ 1.6 t , and tried to work out how many tree's I'd have to plant to off-set this.

The amount of CO2 a tree will absorb depends on many variables, so any calculations are a bit of a guesstimate. I reckon 20 trees will over 4 - 5 years will off-set my CO2 for this trip.

So this month I'm going to give to Greenbelt. Not this Greenbelt, or that Greenbelt, but the Greenbelt Movement . This movement was set up by Wangari Maathai the 2004 Nobel Prize winner. What I like about it is that it's not just an environmental project planting trees in Kenya, but looks to provide employment for women, both in the planting of the trees and then in the management of the planted area.

Comments

[Brent Steeno]

Now that is something I can support as well. Anything that helps underdeveloped countries get their feet on the ground while looking after the earth is a great project.

Nice blog.

[Brodie]

Brent - yes that's what I like about this project.

[Vicki]

Excellent idea Brodie. I mentioned this to the new short-term missions group in the church & they are keen to build this into any future short-term mission teams. It was further suggested that the church may like to support those going on short-term mission by funding their carbon offset.
I have to say that as a rule, I believe it's better not to emit than to emit & offset, BUT this is a starting point, not a final word! The benefits of your trip to New Orleans for example, were tremendous. Sitting at home so as to conserve carbon would have been a bad plan!
That's why your balancing action here - particularly your choice of project - is a great example to churches with a mission focus. It's part of holistic mission to consider all aspects of what we do, so that we maximise the benefits & minimise the "cost". Thanks for posting this.

[Brodie]

Vicki - that's very encouraging to hear.