A carbon offset is an official recognition of the reduction or removal of one metric ton of carbon dioxide equivalent. Many industrial, commercial, and agricultural activities produce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions. When a project developer implements a project that reduces the amount of emissions stemming from an activity, or undertakes a project that removes CO2 from the atmosphere, these projects can generate carbon offsets by following an approved methodology from a recognized standards body.

For example, many landfills emit methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. This methane can be captured and sold to power generation companies to produce electricity, instead of being emitted into the atmosphere. However, in many places the price that the landfill operator could sell the methane for is not high enough to pay for the landfill gas capture. By selling carbon offsets as well, the landfill can implement the project. In this case, the greenhouse gas impact of methane is converted to the impact of carbon dioxide before it is sold as a carbon offset.

An offset (or carbon credit) is the reduction, removal or avoidance of emissions from a specified project that is used to compensate for emissions occurring elsewhere. Each offset represents one metric ton of CO2e. It is important to note that each offset must meet the following criteria:

• Real: Offsets must be accurately measured in accordance with scientifically based protocols.
• Additional: All offsets must pass a regulatory surplus test to ensure that they are not required by regulation or any other legal requirements; project activities cannot be business-as-usual as defined by the applicable registry and protocol.
• Verifiable: Offsets must be independently verified by an accredited third party and are subject to extensive data collection and review prior to credit generation.
• Enforceable: There must be undisputed ownership of the credits and no double counting of offsets.
• Permanent: There must be an established buffer account within the applicable registry to ensure that any net reversals are accounted for and compensated.

By purchasing carbon offsets, you can mitigate the environmental impact of your travel. The modes of transport we use, including airplanes and cars, contribute to 14% of total global greenhouse gas emissions. On an individual basis, a single business-class round-trip flight between New York and Los Angeles is responsible for the same global warming impact as operating the average car for 3 months! Purchasing carbon offsets empowers individual travelers to reduce their contribution to climate change.

The Good Traveler is a first-of-its-kind program that brings leading airports together to offer their passengers an easy way to mitigate their environmental impact. An airport-led nonprofit collaboration, The Good Traveler offers a convenient, affordable, and meaningful step travelers can take to address climate change. Since its inception, The Good Traveler has offset over 23 million passenger miles!

The Good Traveler has a portfolio of certified carbon offsets which users can read about here. The projects within The Good Traveler portfolio have been developed by Anew Climate, LLC, with whom the program has an exclusive partnership. The portfolio is updated annually based on project availability that aligns with the preferences of the program. The Good Traveler’s goal is to have a well-rounded portfolio that focuses on nature-based solutions, while also supporting a variety of technology types. Since the program's inception, offsetting options have been rooted in the local community. This continues today with North American based projects with proximity to our member airports and that are highly impactful for their communities. Additionally, all projects that The Good Traveler support are third party verified through one of these offset standards: Climate Action Reserve, ACR, Verified Carbon Standard, or CSA Clean Projects.

The Good Traveler also aims to select projects that have co-benefits to their carbon offset-specific work. Social, economic, and environmental benefits are often noted, including alignment with the United Nation Sustainable Development Goals. For example, the Francis Beidler Forest has a bird and wildlife sanctuary that welcomes nature lovers from around the world, the South Jordan Landfill Gas Capture has created additional construction, operations, and maintenance jobs, and the Hudson Farms Forest project has become a community steward, giving to local charities for conservation and species protection, as well as partnering with the National Audubon Society and the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Separate from the certified offset portfolio, The Good Traveler also offers the option to offset your air travel with donations to environmental nonprofits. You can read more about this below, or on the Offset Options page.

Landfill Gas: These projects generate emission reduction credits from the destruction of methane into a less harmful greenhouse gas of carbon dioxide through combustion in one of three approved devices - flare, microturbine, or boiler.

Composting: These projects generate emission reduction credits by taking organic residues and treating them aerobically to produce compost. In the absence of the project activity, the waste would have been discarded in landfills where it would undergo anaerobic decomposition, resulting in methane gas emissions.

Energy Efficiency: There are many types of energy efficiency projects. In the case of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) (currently in The Good Traveler portfolio), emission reductions are generated through increased building energy efficiency across campus through a program of aggressive retro-commissioning and upgrades. These include improvements in weatherization, boiler retrofits, cooling upgrades, energy control, HVAC, and temperature control systems. UIUC has also implemented renewable energy and LEED-certified buildings across campus.

Forestry: Improved Forest Management (IFM) carbon projects award offset credits to landowners who maintain high forest stocking levels and who institute practice changes that avoid heavy harvesting to create a meaningful, measurable climate impact. Both Conservation (Avoided Emission) credits and Verified Removals are generated from these project types. You can read about the difference between the two types below.

Improved Forest Management projects generate carbon credits in two ways:

• Conservation Credits or Avoided Emissions: these credits account for the trees in the project area not being cut down as they would in a business-as-usual situation. Instead of pursuing aggressive timber harvesting, the landowner is protecting carbon stocks. The carbon stored in trees within that project area is quantified as Conservation (Avoided Emission) credits.
• Removal Credits (or Verified Removals, as referred to on the Project Page): Following project initiation, Removal Credits accrue in proportion to ongoing carbon sequestration from tree growth. As the tree photosynthesizes, it removes carbon out of the atmosphere and the growth of the tree is quantified in the form of Removal Credits each year. These Removal Credits are tagged on ACR from each Improved Forest Management Project.

The Good Traveler is the first airport-based offset provider. By partnering with airports and their local communities, The Good Traveler is able to provide a simple and sustainable solution for airport customers. It is also the only offset program dedicated to accelerating the decarbonization of the aviation industry. The program achieves this by combining regional, place-based, climate mitigation projects with long-term aviation industry travel emission reductions.

The Good Traveler is operated by Jet-Set Offset.

Email us with any questions or comments at [email protected]. We’re here to help!

We use a robust estimate of 344 lbs. of CO2 for 1000 miles of air travel. The exact amount of carbon for your flight will depend on your seat class, how full the flight is, weather, aircraft type, and a number of other factors. If you are interested in exploring more about flight emissions, a good resource is the International Civil Aviation Organization’s Carbon Emissions Calculator, available here.

Yes! Anybody can offset their travel through The Good Traveler, even if your home airport is not one of our current partners.

Your offset purchase will appear as “JetSetOffset ThGdTrvlr” on your credit card statement.