How Much to Offset Your Carbon?

Photo: Thatcher Cook for Mercy Corps

How much would it cost to offset the carbon emissions from your transportation and travel? Here are a few suggested numbers for you to pinpoint a donation amount.

Please note: carbon emissions are calculated in kilograms, and suggested donations are calculated at $10 to offset one ton of CO2.

Airplane flights

• 1,000 miles of flying produces an average of 200 kg of CO2 per person, which can be offset with a $2 donation
• 5,000 miles produces 1,000 kg of CO2, costing $10 to offset
• 10,000 miles produces 2,000 kg of CO2, costing $20 to offset

Car travel

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the average car is driven 15,000 miles per year - which produces 6,000 kg of CO2 and costs $60 to offset.

• 500 miles of driving produces an average of 200 kg of CO2, which can be offset with a $2 donation.
• 1,000 miles produces 400 kg of CO2, costing $4 to offset
• 2,000 miles produces 800 kg of CO2, costing $8 to offset

Hotel Stays

Each hotel stay of one week averages 200 kg of CO2 emissions, which can be offset for $2.

So, if you drive an average of 15,000 miles per year, fly 50,000 miles a year and stay in hotels four weeks a year, your carbon emissions come to more than 16 tons — which you can help offset with a donation of $160. That's enough to purchase 32 trees for the Colombia Community Forestry program!

Donating to our Climate Change Initiative will help mitigate the causes of climate change through innovative, community-focused programs.