A Step Towards More Sustainability – Voluntary Carbon Offsets

While carbon offsets are not perfect, they are a step in the right direction when they are done with projects that improve the local environment right here in WA.

The Details:

Sustainability is part of Blazing Swan’s DNA, it has always been right there in the constitution, amongst the other objects of the organisation. So far we mostly focused on dealing with MOOP and a bit of recycling and composting. Years have come and gone, and other burns have looked further, with carbon emissions top of their priority list.

We have got some catching up to do in that respect, but change is underway. A Sustainability Policy has recently been approved. This is expected to be followed by appointments to dedicated roles, and detailed reviews across all aspects of sustainability, throughout the organisation. If you are keen to help, ask us about volunteering opportunities.

In the meantime, rather than waiting for that formal process to catch up, there is something we can do right now as a community. Other burns that analysed their carbon footprint came to the conclusion that the vast majority of CO2 emissions associated with their events comes from participants travelling there and back. The same is bound to be true at Blazing Swan.

A simple back of the envelope calculation illustrates this: when we burn Temple and Effigy, and run all the burn barrels for a week, something in the order of 50 tonnes of CO2 will be released. But: A large part of that is actually close to carbon neutral, burning plantation timber. A similar quantity of CO2 will come from all the generators and machinery and truck transport we need to put on the event. That is something the organisation will need to work on.

Then look at around 1500 vehicles with participants, heavily loaded, travelling around 600km round-trip on average. If each, on average, uses about 60l of petrol or diesel, that equates to well over 200 tonnes of CO2. That is somewhere upwards of 70% of the total emissions created by holding our burn.  

Not only are those transport emissions the biggest part, they are some of the hardest to reduce. Carpooling is one option, to the extent that vehicles actually have spare space, but many are loaded to the max. What else can be done?

Carbon offsets have had a bad press, and in many cases for good reasons. While the Australian ACCUs might have stricter criteria on paper (and more red-tape) than many overseas, there still are serious doubts whether they achieve the promised carbon reductions in the long term.  

That is why we chose to look even closer to home. We found 3 organisations that offer carbon offsets to fund their activities, that all have a good track record of projects right here in WA, with a focus on tree planting, re-vegetation, and rehabilitation of landscapes. The reason to look for carbon offsets, despite the valid criticisms, is that this allows a direct conversion: how many offsets does it take to capture the same amount of carbon that gets emitted during a trip to Blaze?

The carbon offsets from the 3 options we found in WA are not ACCUs, but should be close enough in the impact they have on CO2 levels, while in addition reaping all the benefits of supporting local environmental projects. Reducing salinity, creating corridors for local species, etc.

Below is the list of options with descriptions. They all are slightly different, but all appear to have merit, that’s why they all are included. Please choose which one (or multiple) appeals to you most and select them when buying offsets to direct funds their way:

Carbon Positive Australia

Carbon Positive Australia is a registered environmental charity with Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) status. They help organisations, communities, and individuals take climate action. Donations fund the development and implementation of environmental restoration projects. That means they are on the ground planting native trees - and working with their partners to:

Restore healthy ecosystems

Boost Australian conservation and restoration

Empower others to measure and reduce their carbon footprint

Build capacity for tree-planting projects

They are also creating the best possible conditions for ecological restoration at scale.

Carbon Positive Australia is a grassroots organisation with deep roots in Australia, and they strategically develop projects to address the greatest need. Many of their projects are in WA, for example in Bencubbin, Borden, Brookton, Cranbrook, Eurardy, Gabbin, Porongurup, Tootanellup and Warralakin.

Link to projects:  https://carbonpositiveaustralia.org.au/our-work/planting-projects/

Their offsets:  They plant enough trees to offset each tonne of CO2e. They follow the methodologies set out by the Australian Government's Emission Reduction Fund, using the Full Carbon Accounting Model (FullCAM) to measure the amount of CO2e captured. Due to the high cost and administration requirements, these projects are not externally audited. This enables them to take on new projects and plant more trees. They supply in-depth planting and monitoring reports and photography for transparency around on-ground activities.

Carbon Neutral

Carbon Neutral is one of the longest standing carbon offset providers in Australia.

Their Plant-a-Tree program is a stepping stone for businesses and individuals to make a positive impact on the environment.

Their flagship project, the Yarra Yarra Biodiversity Corridor aims to link small patches of remnant vegetation and nature reserves. This is achieved by planting mixed native tree, plant and shrub species on degraded ex-agricultural land.

Through planting species highly adapted to the region the revegetation project encourages the reintroduction of endangered species and combats desertification in this Global Biodiversity Hotspot.

In addition to capturing carbon, these plantings provide crucial habitat for hundreds of species of unique flora and fauna.

Co-benefits include employment and training opportunities for local people, contribution to local business and ongoing consultation and engagement with Indigenous communities.

Link to projects:  https://carbonneutral.com.au/product/biodiverse-reforestation-carbon-offsets/

Their offsets: To project how much carbon the trees and shrubs they plant will sequester (over 50 years), Carbon Neutral uses the Australian Government’s Full Carbon Accounting Model (FullCAM). Unique serial numbers for Biodiverse Reforestation Carbon Offsets are issued to each buyer. All carbon credits sold are cancelled on an internal register to ensure there is no double- counting or double-selling. Their internal register is independently audited at least every five years.

Trillion Trees Australia

Trillion Trees Australia is not-for-profit and community driven. Since 1979 they have been bringing people together to plant trees, reconnect with nature and foster a long-term appreciation of the value of trees for a healthy planet. Each year thousands of volunteers help them to plant trees to regenerate the landscape to create a vibrant environment for future generations.

Their Australian planting projects combat salinity and soil erosion, improve biodiversity, and provide habitat for thousands of native species. Using only Australian native species, most of which are propagated and grown in their own nursery, they have planted over 15.5 million native trees and understory.

Their tree planting projects focus on 3 key endangered and disappearing ecosystems: Eucalypt Woodlands projects are in the Wheatbelt, Banksia Woodlands and Wetlands projects are based in and around Perth.

Link to projects:  https://trilliontrees.org.au/what-we-do/restoration-projects

Their offsets: They participate in the voluntary carbon market. Their calculations are based on the number of trees they plant to offset carbon emissions across a number of sites in varying local conditions, and other publicly available data.

If none of those options appeals to you and you know of a project that you think might be better: no problem, please make a direct donation to the organisation of your choice. What matters most is that we take action, rather than ignoring the problem only because it is hard and there is no easy solution. There are many different ways of achieving a better outcome than by doing nothing!

To give you an indication on much to spend on offsets, here is a table that give you some ideas:

Assumption: Trip from Fremantle to Kulin Racecourse, 600km round-trip. Offsets costed at $40 per tonne of CO₂. Carbon intensity: 2.3kg CO₂ for 1l of petrol, 2.7kg CO₂ for 1l of diesel.

Flights have been estimated to produce 90kg of CO₂ per passenger per hour of flight.  That would put someone travelling from Melbourne at 645kg CO₂ ($25.80), Sydney at 750kg CO₂ ($30), Brisbane 825kg CO₂ ($33) for a round-trip per person.

How to participate:

Once you’ve chosen one or more of the above organisations to support with your carbon offsets, and decided on an amount, head over to the Humanitix page from 4 March 2024 onwards and seal the deal.

The way it works is as follows: the ‘ticket choices’ allow you to pick one or more organisations. The donation amount is how much they will get in total. The amount is apportioned based on the ticket selection.  

Examples:
1) To give an offset amount of $7, all to one of the options: pick 1 ticket with that option as name, choose $7 as donation amount.
2) To split an offset amount of $9 between 2 options in a ratio of 2:1 ($6:$3): pick 2 tickets for the option that should get more, 1 ticket for the option that should get less and choose $9 as donation amount.

The small print:

• All carbon offset donations received by BSI via the Humanitix ticketing system will be passed on to the above organisations in the proportion that is chosen when making the donation. We will update this page after the event to share detailed information.
• If someone forgets to select a preferred organisation in Humanitix, their donation will be apportioned in the same ratio as the average of all other donations that made a selection.
• The amounts in the table above are based on $40 to offset 1 tonne of CO2. The three options we offer above all have different offset prices, currently ranging from $25 to $37.40 per tonne. That reason to use $40 to calculate the offset amount in the examples is to ensure that at least the emissions from that trip are actually offset. If funds go to a cheaper option, a little more CO2 will be offset, which would be a good thing: we are not only using our vehicles for trips to Blazing Swan. Of course you can choose a lower amount if that is what you prefer.
• Carbon offsets in Australia are still very cheap in international comparison, in Europe for example they cost over 3 times as much as here. That has a lot to do with the fact that we as a country have a lot of catching up to do, both in terms of accelerating emissions reductions (which should increase demand for credits), and in terms of stricter checks on the quality of credits (which should reduce supply). Reason to mention this here: in future year offsets will likely be more expensive, and the above offset amount suggestions in no way reflect the actual damage done by our carbon emissions. If you have an opportunity to car-pool rather than offset an extra trip, do it!