Purchase Offsets
Offset Now
Every Ostrom Climate project invests in projects that do more than remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere by enhancing ecosystems and providing wider social and economic benefits to the people living around them.
Buy in bulk and make a big difference
Consider pooling your investment with friends, family or co-workers and you’ll be able to make a truly meaningful contribution to the reduction of greenhouses gases in our air.
E-Certificate
If you’d like an e-certifcate for your purchase, please email info@ostromclimate.com once you’ve made your purchase and tell us what name you’d like on the certificate (and, if you’d like, what you’re offsetting) and we’ll email a certificate back to you.
Canadian's Average Footprints
The average Canadian emits approximately the following amount of greenhouse gases per year:
- 2.1 tonnes CO2e from residential electricity use per household
- 2.7 tonnes CO2e from residential heating per household
- 4.1 tonnes CO2e from driving a medium-sized car for a year
- 2.6 tonnes CO2e from taking one long-haul return flight
- 1.2 tonne CO2e from taking one short-haul return flight
- Canada’s total greenhouse gas emissions in 2016 were 704 megatonnes of CO2e, or 19.5 tonnes CO2e per Canadian.
Offset 2 tonnes
An easy way to start meeting your personal greenhouse gas reduction goals. Two tonnes covers the average Canadian household’s electricity-related emissions.
Offset 5 tonnes
Five tonnes would cover a typical Canadian’s driving emissions.
Offset 10 tonnes
Fly on vacations? Ten tonnes is enough to cover a typical Canadian’s residential energy and travel greenhouse gas emissions.
Offset a custom number of tonnes
If you have a specific number of tonnes you’d like to offset, simply enter the amount below:
FAQ's
When comparing online calculators, the difference in emissions output should not differ significantly from one calculator to another; however, there are a few reasons as to why differences may occur. Some calculators may use different criteria to calculate emissions. Variations in individual behavioural estimates, accounting for radiative forcing, and uplift factors can also affect the carbon emissions output.
Another reason may be that some calculators could be out-of-date since emissions factors are updated every year.
We recommend that when determining the accuracy of an online calculator, you only use calculators that:
- provide sources for emissions factors – including the date published
- use radiative forcing and account for an uplift factor
Ostrom Climate’s online flight and car emissions calculators are created by our analyst team based on The Greenhouse Gas Protocol: A Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard, Revised Edition, as it is the industry standard. We also ensure that we are using the most up to date emissions factors in all of our calculations, which can be found below:
- C. Best Practices Methodology for Quantifying Greenhouse Gas Emissions, 2022; https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/environment/climate-change/lg/lgcap/2023/bc_best_practices_guidance_on_quantifying_ghg_emissions.pdf
- National Inventory Report (Parts 2 and 3) 1990-2021: Greenhouse Gas Emission Sources and Sinks in Canada (2023); https://publications.gc.ca/site/eng/9.506002/publication.html
- Natural Resources Canada – Comprehensive Energy Use Database, 2020; https://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/corporate/statistics/neud/dpa/menus/trends/comprehensive_tables/list.cfm
- UK Government’s GHG Conversion Factors, 2023; https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/greenhouse-gas-reporting-conversion-factors-2023
- eGRID Summary Tables 2021, US EPA; https://www.epa.gov/egrid/summary-data
- Government of Canada Fuel Consumption Ratings, 2023; https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/98f1a129-f628-4ce4-b24d-6f16bf24dd64
Emissions factors are multipliers that enable one to calculate the amount of greenhouse gases produced from an activity. We work to ensure that the emissions factors in our calculator are up-to-date, such that we can provide the most accurate and detailed representation of your carbon footprint. Most emissions factors are updated annually, but some government agencies do not update factors every year, which is why you’ll see sources as old as 2020 in the list above.
The IPCC’S “Aviation and the Global Atmosphere” report also recommends that a radiative forcing factor being included, and the UK Government recommends that an uplift factor also be used when calculating flight emissions. Condensation trails (contrails) may also impact these calculations.
What is radiative forcing?
The IPCC defines Radiative Forcing (RF) as “a measure of the importance of a potential climate change mechanism. It expresses the perturbation or change to the energy balance of the Earth-atmosphere system in watts per square metre (Wm-2). Positive values of radiative forcing imply a net warming, while negative values imply cooling.”
The IPCC has also indicated that the location of emissions from aircrafts is a further driver for climate change, “Aircrafts emit gases and particles directly into the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere where they have an impact on atmospheric composition. These gases and particles alter the concentration of atmospheric greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide (CO2), ozone (O3), and methane (CH4); trigger the formation of condensation trails (contrails); and may increase cirrus cloudiness—all of which contribute to climate change.”
https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/03/av-en-1.pdf
What is an uplift factor?
The uplift factor adds 8% to emissions based on distance flown, due to aircraft stacking (circling), and the fact that some routes are not direct (e.g., due to weather conditions, or flying around international airspace, etc.).
What are contrails?
During flight, airplanes’ engines produce condensation trails (contrails) from their exhaust, putting out a thermal blanket of linear clouds made up of ice particles. While they only last in the atmosphere for a short time, they have a direct impact on climate change.
