At least once a year, I will assess my greenhouse gas emissions and the cost of offsetting these.

There are several ‘ready reckoners’, that is online calculators, available which can help make a reasonable estimate of annual household carbon emissions. For the present carbon emissions can be used in place of greenhouse gas emissions Ethical Consumer magazine has reviewed calculators and recommend the Carbon Independent calculator. We also recommend the UN carbon footprint calculator.

Using the calculator should take about 15 minutes if you have sight of energy bills and know your travel pattern over the year. The calculation is only an approximation so don’t take too long. NB If you are in work, it would be reasonable to exclude business travel which should be a matter for the employer.

If I regard this cost as readily affordable for me, I will meet this cost each year.

Once again, Ethical Consumer magazine has reviewed offset sites. Their recommended offset partner is the German not-for-profit enterprise Atmosfair. You may already have an offset provider you are familiar with. Note: An average household in the UK gives rise to around 10 tonnes CO2 emissions/year. An Atmosfair offset for this amount of CO2 emissions would cost 230 Euros or £165 (December 2015). This sum may seem quite low. This reflects the fact that most of the offset projects are in developing countries where the social impact is greatest and the cost of reducing emissions the least.

Climate Neutral Now UN site are also recommended by Ethical consumer magazine.

If I don’t, with no names given, I will ask the geetotal community to share this cost. If I have sufficient income I will aim to help meet these costs if I feel able to do so.

Once a year, when the initiative is fully up and running, you will be given the opportunity to email to us, in confidence, an offset volume (tonnes CO2) which you would like to ask the geetotal community to meet. Such requests will be aggregated and the total sum spread across those members of the geetotal community who have expressed a willingness to help meet these costs. All of this is up to the individuals concerned: we will have to see how it works out.