Depending on where you deliver your baby, many of the equipment and material choices may be out of your control. One thing you can do, however, is offset the carbon emissions generated by the energy used to run the delivery room and all its equipment. When you arrange for a carbon offset, you make up for the “dirty” emissions-producing energy you couldn’t help using, by making a financial contribution to projects that promote “clean” renewable energy (wind and solar, for example) and other efforts to reduce global warming. There are now many organizations worldwide that make it easy to invest in carbon offsets.
Here are some ways to have a carbon neutral delivery:
- You can purchase a $15 Wind Power Card to ensure that the energy used by your baby’s delivery is replaced on the national power grid with wind energy, while offsetting more than 1,000 pounds of CO2 emissions. Go to http://www.renewablechoice.com .
- You can donate to CarbonFund.org and select from a menu of certified carbon offset projects that include planting trees in severely fire-damaged forests and an innovative project that converts cow manure into methane that then generates the electricity to run a water desalination plant. Because CarbonFund.org is a nonprofit, your contribution is tax deductible. Go to http://www.carbonfund.org.
- You can plant a tree yourself. Over its lifetime, a tree will absorb one ton of carbon dioxide.
Be sure to record this special gift in your baby book. Someday you’ll be able to tell your little one that when born, the energy that was used in the labor and delivery was offset and at least a little bit of global warming never happened.
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