Your money helps to fund clean energy and carbon reduction projects, including wind power; farm power such as dairy farm methane digesters; and landfill gas capture. Every one of these great projects meets our requirements: near-term carbon reductions, independent verification, and ongoing monitoring.
No. Your purchase of carbon offsets funds projects that create clean energy or reduce carbon dioxide emissions. These projects reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but they don’t affect your car or your own personal emissions in any way. Carbon offsets offer a way to balance out the emissions you can’t eliminate through conservation.
Our prices are determined by the current cost of clean energy and carbon reduction projects. These prices fluctuate, but we use market mechanisms to ensure that we achieve high-quality carbon reductions at the lowest possible cost. You can determine which product is right for you by using any of our quick and simple carbon calculators for driving, flying, home energy use, business activities, or events (such as weddings).
More fuel efficient vehicles are a necessary part of any long-term strategy to fight climate change. If you are in the market for a new car and a hybrid suits your budget and needs, we think these cars are a great option.
But hybrid vehicles aren’t yet a viable option for every driver. And even hybrids put substantial amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere - on average about 4,000 lbs of CO2 per year. So even hybrid owners can use TerraPass to balance 100% of their car’s carbon dioxide emissions today.
Yes. TerraPass does not actually reduce the emissions that come directly from your tailpipe. In fact, there are many noxious gases that come out of your tailpipe that don’t have anything to do with global warming. Smart driving habits, regular emissions testing and routine car maintenance can help keep your vehicle running as cleanly and efficiently as possible. And that helps reduce your climate impact, too.
No. If you own a car, chances are that driving is the single biggest source of your individual carbon emissions. But that’s just a start. Two other categories of energy use are also potentially significant sources of carbon emissions:
Air travel. A round-trip flight between New York and Los Angeles uses about 120 gallons of jet fuel per passenger. This single trip is equivalent to about 2 months of driving.
Home energy use. Heating, cooling, and running appliances are as significant as driving for many people.
We use fuel economy data from the Environmental Protection Agency to estimate the miles per gallon of your car or truck. By coupling this information with an estimate of the number of miles you drive each year, we are able to determine how many gallons of gas you purchase on an annual basis. From here, it’s a simple calculation to convert gallons of gas to pounds of carbon dioxide.
If the final figure seems higher than you expected, remember that gasoline triples in weight when it is burned and turned into carbon dioxide.
Every TerraPass comes with a money-back guarantee. If for any reason you’re not satisfied with your purchase, you can have a full refund, no questions asked. Just send us an email at ops@terrapass.com requesting a refund within 30 days of placing your order, and return any shipped material to us.
Of course! It helps if you know the make and annual mileage of the car or the ZIP code of the home you want to balance, but we can help you estimate your gift recipient’s emissions regardless. Check out our gift page.
Liquid fuel such as gasoline roughly triples in weight when it is burned. That’s because fuel is mostly made of carbon. When the carbon is burned, it joins with oxygen in the air to form carbon dioxide. Even though it’s a gas, that oxygen is heavy. Carbon dioxide is roughly triple the weight of carbon alone. If you’re interested in the chemistry of this, more details are available here.
When you buy a TerraPass, we purchase verified carbon offsets on your behalf. These carbon offsets fund a measurable, verified reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.
We will send you a letter verifying the amount of carbon dioxide emissions you have reduced. You will also receive a product content label detailing which project types we fund with your money.
In addition, you’ll receive gifts you can use to help spread the word about global warming and show the world your commitment to reducing carbon emissions.
For a Road TerraPass, you’ll receive a window decal and bumper sticker.
For a Home TerraPass, you’ll receive a fridge magnet and two items to help you reduce your own energy consumption: a compact fluorescent light bulb and a recycled plastic bag dispenser made from 100% recycled soda bottles.
For a Flight TerraPass, you’ll receive a luggage tag or a decal depending on your flight distance.
For a Wedding TerraPass, you’ll receive a wedding certificate in an attractive recycled wood frame.
For a Dorm TerraPass, you’ll receive a decal and a TerraPass water bottle.
For a Business TerraPass, you’ll receive a customized window display or framed certificate.
Please submit the details of your vehicle to info@terrapass.com and we will try to incorporate it into our calculator in the near future. In the meantime, you can our carbon calculator to enter an estimate of your miles per gallon directly, so you can still find out big your carbon footprint from driving is.
You can estimate your carbon footprint from compressed natural gas using our back-up carbon calculator. Take the results from this calculator and multiply by 1.22 to estimate the emissions from CNG.
