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Dance It, Drink It, Do It – Carbon Neutral Melbourne

John Butler is a well-known 'carbon neutral' champ, the recent Climate Festival made good its own 'bad for the environment' emissions and even Cascade has joined the environmentally aware trend with their 100% carbon offset Green beer. But what do 'carbon neutral' and 'carbon offset' really mean?

OK, briefly, the carbon we're talking about is a naturally occurring gas called carbon dioxide (CO2) which, at normal levels, exists quite happily in Earth's atmosphere. Where it gets nasty for nature is when humans up CO2 levels via burning fossil fuels to feed our energy needs. The emissions build up the greenhouse gasses, which keep the heat in, which is global warming in a nutshell.

Going carbon neutral is a three-step process starting with calculating your emissions (derived partly from your energy use), reducing them wherever possible and then funding carbon offsetting projects such as tree-planting schemes. Offsetting your carbon emissions (rather than neutralising them) is a one-step process where you fund projects that compensate for the greenhouse gas emissions you have created.

So, carbon junkies, with the (very) basics explained it's time to get neutral with your emissions. To do this, first visit the Climate Positive website and use its calculator to work out your carbon footprint (Climate Positive is a not-for-profit organisation that works with businesses and households to achieve global warming solutions). Now have a look at the suggested 'Top 10' simple solutions below.

Switch your electricity to an accredited 'green power' and get your energy from a renewable source (so not burning fossil fuels).
Replace ordinary light bulbs with low-emission light bulbs.
Put a jumper on rather than cranking up the heating at home.
If you have to put the heater on, keep it to 20c or below.
Walk, cycle or take public transport to work rather than drive.
Get a worm farm to chomp through your organic waste.
Get green bags and say no to as much extra packaging as possible when shopping.
Elect to offset your carbon emissions when booking a plane ticket.
Support carbon offset/neutral products where possible (drink Cascade Green for example!)
Find a carbon offsetting project (such as tree planting) and help fund it!

Most of these suggestions are easy to achieve around your home and in your daily life - take them on and you'll be neutral (and cool) in no time.

Kelly Ford, Citysearch