It seems like most people have heard of CarbonNeutral, which is a company that helps you calculate your own personal impact on the environment in terms of emissions, as well as direct you to services and companies that provide “greener” living, travel, and shopping. The site has three different calculators, for household, flights, and travel information. I’ve taken these tests before, but I never remember what my numbers are, and I certainly don’t feel like going back and re-remembering how many kilowatt hours of power our household uses a year to get new results.
So I’m trying out a new service, BeGreen. You have to sign up, which is free, and then you create a profile and enter a bunch of information, and then you get an emissions number. The site tells you how your emissions translate into dollars, which would help you to give that amount to a charity (such as a reforestation project) to offset your impact. You can choose to donate money in order to offset your emissions, or just use the site to calculate and remember those emissions. BeGreen also provides a way to buy a green “gift” this holiday season by paying to have trees planted in somebody’s name. It’s a good idea, though it certainly wouldn’t make me the coolest aunt in the eyes of my cousins’ kids.
I like that BeGreen saves my information, which is cool because as I make changes in my daily life, I can go back to the site and update my emissions amount. This helps keep tabs on what I’m doing, and it’s a feel-good way to get confirmation that walking to the office in the rain is worth the effort.
My biggest complaint with this site is that it’s trying too hard. The MySpace-ey format is annoying, because I already have a MySpace page, and I never check it because I find the whole concept of internet “friends” to be a thinly veiled attempt at making you feel more popular, which, at twenty-six, is kind of pathetic. (I did make a MySpace though, so I’ve forfeited my right to say it’s lame.)
The MySpace thing aside, BeGreen is a cool idea. You can calculate your emissions, make some changes, and then go back and see how much impact those changes made. It’s effective, it’s a way to get instant gratification, and it’s fun to do when you’re bored at work. Isn’t that all we really want?
I’ve decided to share my BeGreen page with all of you. I almost didn’t, since it’s kind of personal, but I figured that if some of you calculate your emissions and make positive changes, then I could indirectly have an even greater impact on the environment. And then, I could feel even better about myself!
You have to sign up for BeGreen to see my page or to make your own, but it’s free. You can take a tour here before you sign up, if you want. Happy calculating!
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