Thursday good news blogging

Have you heard about carbon offset programs? Well, they enable you to buy into a process that actually takes carbon out of the atmosphere so as to neutralize, in effect, the carbon your behavior puts in. Here's an article that shows how the idea is spreading. It's subtitled "For a price, travelers can offset carbon impact of flying, driving" and here's part of what it says:

Eco-travelers of the world, listen up. Two major online travel agencies this week launched programs to let you offset travel-related emissions tied to global warming. The question now is whether people who consider themselves environmentally aware will buy into the concept.

Rivals Travelocity and Expedia are taking slightly different approaches to the idea of offsetting the carbon dioxide emitted by aircraft, rental cars and even hotel rooms.

Travelocity is allowing folks who buy vacation packages to offset carbon emissions through a tax-deductible donation to The Conservation Fund, a nonprofit that then plants trees, which absorb carbon dioxide as they grow.
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The nonprofit Conservation Fund said a $10 donation offsets an average trip including air travel, a one-night hotel stay, and rental car for one person; $25 offsets air travel, a four-night hotel stay, and rental car for two people; and $40 offsets air travel, a four-night hotel stay, and a rental car for four people.

You can learn more about becoming carbon neutral at the Solar Electric Light Fund website. A link is provided that lets you calculate how much carbon your personal energy usage puts into the atmosphere. Ways of offsetting that are also suggested.