Frequently Asked Questions
You probably have some questions.
What is Emission Neutral?
Emission Neutral is the link between business, the public and the environment. We know there are a lot of for-profit companies out there offering to sell you carbon offsets – we get that. Our goal is not just to offset emissions, but to reverse them all. We do that by helping organizations design and invest in projects that soak up or prevent future emissions, and we do it all ethically and locally.
What does it mean to be carbon neutral?
Carbon neutrality is a status that governments, corporations and NGOs have been seeking over decades. On a basic level, being carbon neutral is reducing future CO2e (CO2 equivelant) by volunteering or donating to projects that stand to change our requirement for fossil fuels in the future. The inherent challenge in this endeavor is that almost everything we do involves combusting fossil fuels, from making cell phones and shoes to flying on airplanes and shipping food and merchandise. We believe this will one day be attainable, but not without investing in future technology, nature and education.
How do you reduce emissions?
It would be impossible to rid the earth of airplanes and automotive transportation all at once – our economy relies on them heavily. Because we can’t avoid burning fossil fuels for the time being, we reduce future emissions by dedicating our time and donations to projects like protected forests, developing clean technology or promoting and making accessible clean technology that already exists. All of our projects are designed with the guidelines of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for 2030.
Where does my money go?
If you are travelling or making a ticket purchase with an air carrier or travel agent that is in partnership with Emission Neutral, you may be prompted to offset the emissions of your flight or trip. What you are being asked is if you are interested in reducing fossil fuel emissions in the future by contributing a small donation to a local project that takes aim at changing how we travel. If you are asked this question, you can be assured all the money you contribute goes directly to a local protected forest, climate sciences scholarship or to fund the development of technology that does not require combustion.
Who gets paid at Emission Neutral?
Most of our work towards offsetting emissions is done by volunteers and our partners at educational institutions. Our organization only requires a small handful of paid employees to keep the operation rolling across the country, and because most of our work happens in the field or online, some of us have never met in person.
Why partner with Emission Neutral rather than someone else?
Every time money changes hands, moves across borders or even from one organization to another, efficiency is lost in transaction fees or exchange rates and taxation. Emission Neutral works with your business right in your backyard to develop or find offset projects that suit your needs. We understand transportation, aviation and the public demand to go green. Emission Neutral works with your business to achieve this status in a way that costs little or nothing at all.
Does Emission Neutral sell carbon offsets?
No – Rather than sell carbon offsets which are a one time solution to offset a specific trip or flight, our goal is to eradicate the need for carbon offsets by helping corporations design and operate their own offset projects, therefore becoming a perpetual net-zero emissions operation.
What is your Recycle Bicycle program?
Our recycle bicycle program accepts donations of old, beat up and non functional bicycles. We repair them in order to give them away at no cost to low income commuters that may otherwise require a taxi, a friend to drive them or a bus. We partner with bicycle shops across the country to make this happen.
Why the consumer?
Not all consumers agree with the realities or studies surrounding climate change, and neither do all organizations responsible for burning fossil fuels. By letting the consumer or passenger decide whether or not to contribute to our cause, it allows access to more businesses that traditionally would have been held hostage by for-profit carbon off setters, being forced to pay offsets for every customer and having that cost incorporated into their fare. With our unique partnership model we can assist companies in becoming emission neutral with no risk getting involved.
Where can I see some of the projects you participate in?
Emission Neutral consults on, monitors and certifies projects on behalf of our partners. The success of these projects depends entirely on our partners contributions with their clients, so we don’t take any credit. Some examples of our partners’ projects are protected forests, eelgrass farms, climate studies scholarships, charging apparatus for EVs or solar and wind apparatus.
How can you tell you are making a difference?
The unfortunate truth is that our population is growing at an exponential rate, ergo so is the need for food, transportation, energy and manufacturing. Because the growing need is exponential, any change we can make to societal processes like air travel, electric vehicle viability or energy sectors will exponentially effect the overall future emissions footprint of the world. We use baseline measurements like tonnes of CO2 to estimate correlating outputs of all harmful gasses to set our goals, but the real difference will truly be felt in the future.
How can I volunteer in a climate change project?
Volunteers are largely responsible for the success we enjoy in giving back to our climate. For volunteer opportunities in your area, email your expression of interest to [email protected].
A Little Is A Lot
One of the challenges our country faces in the wake of this global realization is – whose responsibility is it? Is it the government, by imposing taxes on tonnes of CO2 or CO2e? Is it manufacturers of jet engines or cruise ships? Is it transit company operators or the airlines?
Through physical labour, endless studies, breaking technology or donations – it is all of our responsibility to reduce environmental contimination.
Get In Touch
Would you like to learn more about working with us? Please use the form below for any questions or comments you may have.
Phone Number
toll free: 1-855-938-8725
Email Address
Address
7960a Winston St.
Burnaby, BC V5A 2H5