July and august are the holiday months in Europe, many people take a flight a broth. When you book your holiday or business flight ask for the option to compensate your CO2 emission by booking a GreenSeat.

Why you should compensate? The answer is simple: to clean up after yourself! When you decide to fly you pollute the air with greenhouse gasses such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane.

Compensation by GreenSeat
When you buy a GreenSeat, GreenSeat uses the proceeds to plant, manage and protect forests that store CO2 as they mature. This is done by forestry partner the Face Foundation (Forests Absorbing Carbon dioxide Emission).
Since the airline industry is a global industry and our climate is a global system we plant the trees in various places around the world. Most planting is done in tropical areas because trees in those areas grow all year long and thus ‘soak up’ CO2 quicker.

The certification process of CO2 from the forestry projects is monitored by the internationally recognised organisation SGS (Société Générale de Surveillance). The forestry projects are in compliance with FSC regulations and are continuously monitored in terms of sustainable forest management and the amount of CO2 sequestered (‘soaked up’).
When you buy a GreenSeat you receive a certificate that states the amount of CO2 that you have compensated for that particular flight. The certificate doesn’t give you ownership of trees but states the amount of C02 that will be taken out of the atmosphere. In a way it is a receipt of the clean air that you have just bought!

EIGHT GOOD REASONS TO COMPENSATE THE EMISSIONS RELATED TO YOUR FLIGHT:

1. Clean up after yourself
When you compensate you pay for forests that ‘soak up’ the carbon dioxide emissions related to your flight. This is comparable to the cleaning company that cleans your home or office. In both cases you pay for an organisation to clean up after you. The only difference is that you do notice when the office hasn’t been cleaned and you don’t see the harmful emissions left behind by the airplane that took you to your holiday destination. But should that make a difference?

2. There is no alternative
Unfortunately, if you decide to fly there is no way to avoid CO2 emissions. There is no technological aternative for the jet-engine. At the moment compensation is the only way to significantly reduce the negative impact of your flight.

3. Compensation is not expensive
In most cases, the price of compensation is no more than 5% of the ticket price. For most passengers this will not be a reason not to fly. If compensation would be included in the ticket price everybody would therefore fly compensated. Therefore, the problem is not the price of compensation, but rather our willingess to spend it on the environment.

4. Flying is tax-free
Flying is a cheap mode of transport because it is virtually tax-free. There are no duties on kerosine and in most countries there is no VAT on airplane tickets. This makes flying relatively cheap compared to other forms of transport and should leave some financial room to pay for compensation. It should also be noted that ‘airport tax’ in most cases is not a government tax but rather a fee to the airport company to use their facilities.

5. Trees are good for us
Forests do not only store CO2 while they grow, they also give us oxygen! Trees are the lungs of the earth, but these lungs are getting smaller at an alarming rate. Planting and protection of forests is important for the balance on earth. Apart from that forests also help prevent soil erosion and they provide a habitat for many species of animals and plants.

6. You are not the only one
Fortunately there are already many individuals and organisations that make their flights ‘green’ by compensating for their flight emissions. The Dutch Parliament and the British Council are just two of our more prominent customers. Many individuals voluntarily choose to compensate their emissions via our website. Come and join this growing group of responsible travellers!

7. Change the world
Politicians and industry representatives cannot agree on any form of emissions regulation of the airline industry, so for the time being compensation will remain absolutely voluntary. This means that it is up to each traveller to take his or her own responsibility to compensate for the emissions they have caused. If we would all do this, the world would surely change for the better. But it starts with yourself.

8. Our climate IS changing
This is the last because it needs little explanation. The vast majority of scientists belief that our climate is changing and that this is caused by human actions. The warm and wet summer weather in Western Europe, melting glaciers across the world and the hurricanes in the Mexican Gulf all tell the same story. Our climate is changing and if we don’t change our way of life these changes will affect us more and more. The time has come to do something about it!

For more information go to www.greenseat.com