Corporations are increasingly paying third-party organizations to offset their carbon emissions, but what can individuals do to track and offset their carbon footprint? Toohla is a new app created in Chicago that can help individuals do their part to fight climate change. You do this by using the app to help you calculate your carbon footprint, and offset it with carbon offsets that have been verified to make a real difference to climate change.
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Finally, an app to help the individual offset carbon emissions
The idea for Toohla did not come from a sustainability business, but rather the political space. Toohla was founded by entrepreneur Pranav Buggana, whose idea to start the company came from working on political campaign marketing.
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“I have a background in data science and climate technology,” Buggana explained to Chronicle Press Tech News. “My little brother who was even more interested in climate than I was. He was visiting family in Chicago and had to travel very far, so there was no substitute for flying. By the time he traveled by train, the vacation would be over. He said he was vegetarian and did other things for the environment, but felt bad about how flying had an even bigger impact.”
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Buggana thought about buying carbon offset credits to reduce the footprint of his brother’s flight.
“We spent some time figuring out how an individual can calculate their carbon footprint and offset it,” he said. “There wasn’t an easy calculator or an easy solution to buy carbon credits to offset it. As we delved into the world of carbon credits, we realized there are good credits that have a high chance of reducing emissions and there are bad credits that don’t do much.”
What can individuals do to stop climate change?
Individuals can find the process of calculating a carbon footprint daunting, especially when booking in the middle of a flight. Where can you start?
Toohla is programmed with data to help estimate your impact based on your lifestyle and the products you use. Toohla also games the process, meaning you can compete against yourself and earn little achievements to show you’re on track. Just like turning a diet into a group support activity, the Toohla app can be used by individuals and families who want to turn climate recovery into a fun challenge.
How do you know your carbon deposits are really making a difference? This is where Toohla stands out: They have partnered with organizations that can make the biggest difference. Individuals can rest assured that the carbon offsets brokered by Toohla go to tree planting and carbon capture type projects that are much more than greenwashing. Having a third-party audit operation helps validate the quality of offerings, which is what many new companies like Toohla are starting to do.
How to spot a quality carbon offset credit
Carbon offsets or credits are a unit of money that is exchanged for a third party that does something to offset carbon emissions. For example, if your company has reduced waste and energy consumption in its manufacturing process as much as possible, but still has a carbon footprint, you can offset the remaining carbon footprint by paying a direct carbon offset company to work with you. a net zero carbon organization.
This organization might pull plastic waste from the oceans, pay for sustainable energy creation, or plant trees and rehabilitate ecosystems such as waterways. This used to be a very expensive process, but now carbon offset firms can extend fractional units to the individual to make offsetting personal footprints affordable.
Moreover, the carbon offset market is only about two years old. The industry is still working out standards, but for now the best way to see a quality carbon offset is to see what the organization promises to do, and make sure they have reported impact statistics on their website, such as the amount of plastic they pulled from the ocean. Every organization should have an explanation that clearly explains how they offset carbon, and how you can be sure they are spending most of your money on that work and not administrative costs.
Buggana explained that sometimes companies make it seem easy to offset the emissions from your flight by paying, say, $10 extra, but that doesn’t seem realistic for the amount of emissions produced. Common sense goes a long way here. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. Look for badges from partner organizations you recognize, or find out which conservation organizations work with carbon offset companies to decide if they’re trustworthy.
To use the Toohla app, you enter some information about your lifestyle, such as whether you use a car or public transport, and the app will show you areas where there are opportunities for improvement. If you’ve been thinking about greening your commute or lifestyle or travel habits, check it out and tell us what you think.
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Images via Toohla
