Wasted $120 on a 'carbon offset' subscription before doing the math

I signed up for this monthly carbon offset thing through a popular app back in March. Paid $15 a month for 8 months before I actually looked into what they were funding. Turns out they were mostly buying credits from a tree planting project in Oregon that replants the same area over and over. I could have just donated that $120 directly to a local solar co-op and gotten way more impact. Has anyone else gotten burned by these middleman offset services?

2 comments

2 Comments

kelly_coleman612d ago

Skip the middlemen, donate direct. You see where it goes then.

simon_wood722d ago

Yeah I did something similar with a "climate positive" subscription back in 2021. Paid like $10 a month for a year and then found out they were investing in some kind of carbon capture tech that was basically just pumping CO2 into old oil wells. Felt like I was paying for greenwashing. Now I just donate to a local food forest project where I can actually see the trees and help out on weekends.