You may have noticed the new “My Blog is Carbon Neutral” button in the La Jolla Mom sidebar. This program was recently brought to my attention and I think it’s a brilliant idea. The “My Blog is Carbon Neutral” program was started by the Make it Green Programme in Germany. In the US, they work with the Arbor Day Foundation, a non-profit conservation and education organization. The Arbor Day Foundation’s goal is to reforest 5,500 acres, destroyed by fires, of the Plumas National Forest in Northern California with 792,000 trees.
You can help this initiative by making your blog carbon neutral. A Harvard physicist determined that a blog with 15,000 monthly visitors generates about 8lbs of carbon dioxide emissions per year. This is from sources such as computer usage, servers and cooling systems. It’s difficult to say how much carbon dioxide one tree absorbs due to species, age of tree, latitude, soil conditions and more. However, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) assumes a yearly absorption of one tree at approximately 22lbs (10kg) of carbon dioxide emissions. To be conservative, the Make It Green Programme assumes 11lbs (5kg) for the “Make Your Blog Carbon Neutral” initiative.
This means that ONE TREE neutralizes the carbon dioxide emissions of your blog, assuming you receive about 15,000 visitors or less per month.
If you receive more than 15,000 visitors, not to worry, just email CO2-neutral@kaufda.de and they’ll neutralize your blog too.
Here’s how you get a tree planted in the Plumas National Forest:
1. Write a blog post about the program including the “My Blog is Carbon Neutral” button.
2. Email the link to CO2-neutral@kaufda.de
3. A tree will be planted for you
This is a no brainer, so please go do it. You could obviously plant another tree in your yard, but the Plumas National Forest could use your help too. It’s good for all of us.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
How cool! What a great idea by the forest with social media too.
.-= Natalie´s last blog ..Scholastic love =-.
Wow! Who knew? Didn’t know a thing about this topic until now. Thanks for sharing. I always love to know as much as I can about going “green!” and saving our precious planet. (Thanks for your vote for InfluenceSD. Appreciate that very much. )
.-= DrapesGirl´s last blog ..My Own Space of La Jolla-An Italian Furniture and Accessory Haven =-.
Twitter: polopony95
March 8, 2010 at 1:06 pm
This is great, thanks for sharing!
I have been trying to make my blog greener as well and came across this place:
http://350.brighterplanet.com/
Its to offset our carbon footprints!
Once I came across a really neat eco friendly blog, and when I switched of her blog and went onto another blog, while still having her blog pulled up, her blog went dark and a message came up saying that it was using less electricity while I wasn’t on it! I thought that was really really really neat, but I haven’t been able to find any information on it!
.-= Reyna´s last blog ..SodaStream ~ Delicious and Earth Friendly Soda! =-.
Love the idea! I think it is about time that we get to know more how are planet is changing and what are the cause of these changes. The more we know, the more ways we can discover to help us save this one planet that we have.
This is great. However, the math seems off. One tree only removes 0.039 metric tons of CO2e (http://www.epa.gov/cleanrgy/energy-resources/refs.html).
A blog creates 0.000386 metric tons of CO2e an hour (Source: US EPA, “Report to Congress on Server and Data Center Energy Efficiency Public Law 109-431”, Energy Star Program.)
So if you have a 24/7 blog that is 3.38 metric tons of CO2e a year.
That is a great program, thanks so much for sharing!
.-= SanDiegoSavvy´s last blog ..Old Town San Diego =-.