Carbon Offsets 101

Carbon offsets are an easy, effective way to help restore nature's carbon balance. Think of a weighted scale: on one side are emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. These are the unavoidable result of our modern lifestyles – driving a car or keeping our homes comfortably cool or warm. Emissions from these activities are part of our "carbon footprint." On the other side, balancing out these emissions, are carbon offsets. The more we can reduce the impacts from our everyday activities – our "carbon footprint" – the less is left to balance out through carbon offsets. Carbon offsets represent emissions avoided by verifiable activities such as planting trees. Achieving a balance – with emissions equal to offsets – is challenging. Carbon offsets help restore nature's balance.

Reducing Our Environmental Impact

Behavioral changes make a big difference. We can't stop using energy or producing waste, but we can take small, meaningful steps in the right direction like adjusting our thermostats and recycling. We can take steps to shrink our environmental footprint. And we can offset what remains.

Offsets and Our Carbon Footprint

Carbon offsets help us counterbalance, or "offset," part of our carbon footprint. Through WGES, supporting carbon offset projects is easy: offsets are now included in the WGES natural gas supply offer. WGES matches locally-sourced WGES CleanSteps^® Carbon Offsets to your natural gas usage – a 5% match for residential customers and a 3.5% match for small commercial customers. WGES provides the option of increasing these baseline percentages to 100%, meaning you can offset all of your natural gas use and achieve a net-zero emissions balance.

For further information, please click on the link below:

• Carbon Offsets 101 FAQs