Eco-conscious Eugene flyers now have the option to buy carbon offsets based on the miles they're traveling as a means of limiting their own footprints when using airplanes.
The Eugene Airport has partnered with The Good Traveler, a carbon-offset program that tacks onto the ticket price money for carbon sequestration and capture projects. Flyers can calculate the carbon impact of flights and buy offsets to reduce that impact.
“The Good Traveler program provides options for passengers in our region to offset the carbon impacts from air travel,” Acting Eugene Airport Director Cathryn Stephens said in a news release. “We are excited to be a member of this program and are continually looking for innovative ways for EUG to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”
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Carbon offsetting generally works by compensating for greenhouse gas emissions of an individual or an organization, such as a city or company, with the purchase of certified credits representing the reduction of one metric ton of carbon dioxide emissions. The purchases fund the projects actually responsible for capturing and reducing carbon.
Carbon offsets bought through The Good Traveler program support more than a dozen projects across the country reducing greenhouse gases such as a carbon sequestering forest in New Jersey and a methane capture-and-destruction plant in Washington.
None of The Good Traveler-supported carbon reduction projects are based in Oregon.
The Good Traveler program allows flyers to plug in where they're flying from and to. The website calculates the trip's carbon footprint and the cost and number of offsets needed.
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A roundtrip economy class trip from the Eugene Airport to JFK International Airport in New York City is 6,000 miles of air travel producing 2,064 pounds of CO2 and needs six offsets at the price of $12 to for a carbon neutral trip, according to the site's calculator.
"We use a robust estimate of 344 pounds of CO2 for 1,000 miles of air travel. The exact amount of carbon for your flight will depend on your seat class, how full the flight is, weather, aircraft type and a number of other factors," The Good Traveler website says.
The program allows flyers to buy fewer offsets than needed for a carbon-neutral trip.
Offsets can be calculated and purchased at thegoodtraveler.org.
The Good Traveler was founded in 2015 by San Diego International Airport and has more than 20 partner airports. The program so far has offset more than 86,000 metric tons of carbon equaling 554 million passenger flight miles, according to the company website.
Contact reporter Adam Duvernay at [email protected]. Follow on Twitter @DuvernayOR.
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Eugene Airport joins program letting passengers buy carbon footprint-balancing offsets
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