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
While the difference in emissions output should not differ significantly from one calculator to another, there are a few reasons as to why this may happen. Some calculators may use different criteria to calculate emissions. Variations in individual behavioural estimates, conversion factors, and 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Another reason may be that some calculators could be out-of-date, since emissions factors are updated every year.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 you only use calculators that:
- provide sources for emissions factors
- use radiative forcing and account for an uplift factor
We work to ensure that the emissions factors in our calculator are up-to-date, such that we can provide you with the most accurate and detailed representation of your carbon footprint. The emissions factors that we have used for the calculator are:
The IPCC’S “Aviation and the Global Atmosphere” report recommends that both a radiative forcing factor and an uplift factor be included in flight emissions calculations. Condensation trails (contrails) may also impact these calculations.
What is radiative forcing?
Radiative forcing (RF) is the annual mean radiative imbalance in the Earth’s climate system which is caused by human activities. RF predicts changes to the global mean surface temperature, a positive RF contributes to global warming. However, this does not happen uniformly and you can have instances where some regions are warmer or cooler than others. In aviation, RF accounts for the additional climate impacts associated with burning fuel so high in the atmosphere.
What is an uplift factor?
The uplift factor adds 8% to emissions, 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).
How do contrails impact emissions?
During flight, airplanes’ engines produce condensation trails (contrails) from the exhaust, putting out an almost invisible thermal blanket of cloud across the sky. While they only last in the atmosphere for a short time, they have a daily impact on atmospheric temperatures that is greater than that from the accumulated CO2 emissions from all aircraft since the Wright Brothers took to the skies more than a century ago.
