danielbaylis.ca

It’s been an amazing year. With only five weeks remaining in this twelve month odyssey, I approach the endpoint with mixed emotions. But the emotion that resonates the most is that of gratitude.

It’s been such a treat to have you here with me. You’ve been wonderful company.

However, before this adventure draws to a close, I’m going to be audacious and ask one thing from you. I want your help in addressing the ecological consequences of hop-scotching across the globe.

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THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF THIS JOURNEY

When I designed this trip, I knew that I wanted to spent as much time in each of my destinations as possible to maximize my understanding of culture, food, people and all the other lovely elements that foreign spaces provide. This meant getting from point A to point B with relative haste. In the future, I hope to travel more via trains, boats and desert caravans, but for this trip, I decided to rely on airplanes. And this has an impact.

The advantage, as mentioned, is that I maximize my time in each destination. The disadvantage, is a series of fuel-consuming, carbon-producing medium and long haul flights that have produced a carbon footprint that surpasses what I deem to be acceptable by any single human being in a year.

Here are the slightly scary statistics of my carbon emissions from my flights:

Vancouver – New Orleans – (1.4 tonnes)
New Orleans – San Jose (Costa Rica) – (0.92 tonnes)
San Jose (Costa Rica) – Trujillo (Peru) – (0.84 tonnes)
Lima (Peru) – Buenos Aires (Argentina) – (1.26 tonnes)
Buenos Aires (Argentina) – Cape Town (South Africa) – (2.34 tonnes)
Cape Town (South Africa) – Marrakech (Morocco) – (2.65 tonnes)
Casablanca (Morocco) – Toulouse (France) – (0.55 tonnes)
Paris (France) – Edinburgh (Scotland) – (0.35 tonnes)
Edinburgh (Scotland) – Tel Aviv (Israel) – (1.35 tonnes)
Amman (Jordan) – Mumbai (India) - (1.34 tonnes)
Mumbai (India) – Luang Prabang (Laos) - (1.23 tonnes)
Bangkok (Thailand) – Secret December destination - (2.56 tonnes)
Secret December destination – Vancouver (4.25 tonnes)

Total C02 from using flights during this journey = 21.05 tonnes

That’s a lot of spewing carbon into our atmosphere. Yet what does 21.05 tonnes of carbon emissions actually look like? Let me put things in perspective. This amount (21.05 tonnes) is the same as the annual emissions as one of the following figures:

- 3.7 passengers vehicles on the road for 1 year (based on a medium size car driving 11,720 miles/year)
- 2,136 gallons of gasoline
- 44.3 barrels of oil
- 794 propane cylinders used for home bbq’s
- 21.05 tonnes is equal to the carbon sequestered by 488 tree seedlings grown for 10 years
- 21.05 tonnes is equal to the carbon sequestered annually by 4.1 acres of pine or fir forests

There is no denying it. I’ve been a bit of a carbon glutton this year. But I want to do something about it.

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INTRODUCING ‘OFFSETTERS’

It became clear that I needed to explore options of neutralizing my environmental impact. I knew that there were many organizations in the world that manage carbon offset projects. The theory behind ‘carbon offsetting’ is that we are less likely to compromise certain activities (such as flying), so how can we promote reduction in other industries that would reduce carbon emissions? For example, if I chose to fly, then perhaps I can invest a bit of extra money in projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions such as windfarms, planting trees, using heat pumps and other environmentally friendly initiatives. It’s a form of ecological harm reduction.

My chosen organization to ‘offset’ the footprint from my 21.05 tonnes of carbon emissions is a Vancouver-based organization called OFFSETTERS. They have regional and international projects that are successfully balancing the carbon imprint of businesses and individuals from around the globe. In 2010 OFFSETTERS successfully offset 250,000 tonnes of carbon emissions. And in my books, that’s pretty stellar.

I contacted them to help calculate the scary numbers from my journey. They tallied up the damages, and were kind enough to help put my footprint in perspective – the equivalent of 794 propane cylinders for the average BBQ! Eeek!

As I bounced emails back and forth with the very helpful Alison from OFFSETTERS (Marketing Communications Manager), I learned that there are actually two portfolio options to offset emissions:

1) General: a mix of Canadian projects and international Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS) credits.

2) Gold Standard: sourced from Gold Standard credits from around the world – this portfolio is internationally accepted standard for offsets.

The smog of my jet trail hasn’t been magically contained in the Canadian atmosphere. No, I’ve been a carbon-spewing jerk internationally. So it made most sense to go with the Gold Standard portfolio, and contribute to projects in India, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda and New Zealand. This trip was about engaging with the world, so I believe that maintaining an international scope is important.

Here’s what Alison had to say about our decision to collaborate and tackle my carbon emissions:

“We’re happy to see motivated individuals like Daniel who are using the strength of communities to make a difference. Along with tangible environmental benefits, Gold Standard offset projects have additional social co-benefits. The Gold Standard is the world’s leading independent standard for creating high-quality emission reductions projects, and was designed to ensure that carbon credits are not only real and verifiable but that they make measurable contributions to sustainable development worldwide. Click to learn more about Offsetters’ Gold Standard offest projects!”

Please take a gander on their website to learn about their various projects and how you can also offset the impacts of your carbon production. It’s a really great initiative. And it’s cheaper than you’d imagine.

So, now that we know the damage of my journey. This is where I thought I’d call in the troops.

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A CALL TO ALMS (HOW YOU CAN HELP)

I want to neutralize the impact of my airline travel this year. And it just so happens to be my birthday on Thursday, November 24. All I want for my birthday is the knowledge that I’ve cleaned up the mess that I’ve made. So if you are enjoying this journey, how about reciprocating with a bit of love?

If each reader donated $1 for my birthday, we would DESTROY the necessary amount of $631.50 to offset the carbon emissions of my airline travel. This is a very do-able amount!

But, of course, you don’t have to be shy. I do accept larger amounts! Donations of $50 or more will receive a postcard from Laos or my secret final December destination. Donations of $200 or more will receive an autographed copy of the travel memoir to be written in early 2012, and released in Autumn. I accept all amounts, nothing is too small.

If you’ve derived value from the past eleven months of photo, video and written content, how about helping me reach this goal?

SHARING IS CARING

It’s super easy to give. Just visit Paypal and and use your credit card to forward some dollars. All you need is my email address (dannyboy@danielbaylis.ca). I also am happy to accept direct email transfers (simply use the same address: dannyboy@danielbaylis.ca – and provide me with an easy to decode secret question!)

Let’s kick these carbon emissions in the gonads!

And whether you are in the position to share a bit of financial support or not, I am very much grateful that you’ve shared this year with me. For serious!

Thank you! Merci! Gracias! Shokran! Toda raba! Shukriyaa! Khawp jai!

xoxo

Daniel

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Read the followed post: A TRIUMPHANT TALE OF OFFSETTING CARBON EMISSIONS!

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