Are you a member?
As evidence mounts that carbon emissions are helping lead to global warming, reducing your carbon footprint has become a global responsibility. While it was once an idea that only the very wealthy could contribute to, the masses are finally getting their chance.
A cross-country flight burns on average 100 gallons of fuel per passenger, equal to roughly four months of driving. While Silverjet, the world’s first carbon neutral airline has gone belly-up, travel and vacation booking agents have taken steps that can allow the average coach class passengers to go carbon neutral for a small fee.
Most are teaming up with established carbon offsetting organizations, and while none are perfect, it is a start. Right now it works like a kind of a built-in checkbox — like adding trip insurance or asking for a kosher meal. [Travelocity’s](http://www.travelocity.com) Go-zero, run by the [Conservation Fund](http://www.conservationfund.org), gives you the option of donating $10-40 to offset your carbon emissions. [Orbitz](http://www.orbitz.com) has teamed up with [Carbon Fund](www.carbonfund.org) so you can donate $10 for a domestic flight or $20 for international, and has even gone as far as adding a [separate search engine](http://www.eco.orbitz.com) where you can rent hybrid cars or find hotels that have earned an Energy Star from the EPA. [Expedia](http://www.expedia.com), who works with [Terrapass](http://www.terrapass.com), suggests donations based on whether you take a short haul ($5.99), cross-country ($12.99) or international flight ($25.99).
So where do your donations go? It varies from each organization:
The Conservation Fund focuses on offsetting via reforestation. They will plant the appropriate number of trees to help bring your carbon dioxide emissions down to zero.
Carbon Fund allows you to choose which specific projects you donate to, ranging from renewable energy projects (solar, wind, geothermal) to reforestation and energy efficiency (reducing the energy use of coal, oil and natural gas).
TerraPass helps fund several different clean energy projects such as the Nebraska’s Ainsworth Wind Facility, Minnesota’s Haubenschild Dairy Farm and the Chicago Climate exchange.
But you don’t have to limit yourself to the offsetting partners these travel sites have chosen. By [researching offsetters](http://greener.halogenguides.com/articles/1172-10-carbon-offset-providers-you-can-trust) yourself, you can pick and choose which program you prefer to donate to and how much is appropriate.
