You may be hearing the phrase carbon offsetting more and more these days. That’s because several Fortune 500 companies are making bold commitments to become carbon neutral in their daily operations. What does it mean to be carbon neutral? It means your company operates with a zero carbon footprint. This can be achieved by reducing the carbon emitted through such activities, like transportation, utilities, etc. through use of more energy efficient means or by offsetting the carbon your operations emit by reducing it elsewhere. Many companies choose to offset their carbon by donating to organizations whose mission is driven by cleaning up carbon emissions, such as planting trees, solar energy or like Energy Resource Center does, reduce the carbon footprint of Colorado homes.
Many large companies like Verizon, Amazon, Etsy, IKEA, along with countless others have devoted resources and revenue to make their operations more energy efficient. In a recent announcement, Amazon has pledged to be carbon neutral by 2040 across all operations of their business. Verizon Wireless has announced a detailed plan to be carbon neutral by 2035. ETSY is the first online retailer to offset the carbon for every purchase made on their site. IKEA has estimated that their business emits 24.9 million tons of CO2 per year, accounting for .1% of the world’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Their goal is to be ‘carbon positive’ by 2030, meaning they will actually reduce more carbon emissions than their operations produce.
These large companies see more than just profit. They are committed to changing the impact they make on our planet through carbon 
reduction and carbon offsetting. They are looking far into the future. There are even examples of large-scale events, like the FIFA World Cup, that has made carbon offsetting a priority for the future of their tournament. And it’s not just large corporations that are doing this. You can find examples of small and local businesses doing their part. At Energy Resource Center, we offset carbon every day. Our crews work long hours to reduce the carbon footprint and dependency on the power grid of homes in Colorado. Through solar energy and energy efficiency upgrades, the work we do is helping to create a cleaner, more sustainable Colorado. Your donation to ERC or utilization of our Pay-it-Forward program, allows us to service more homes, which allows less carbon footprint for our state.
To learn more about our Carbon Offsetting or to become a corporate partner, visit www.erc-co.org.