On September 24th, 180 young Canadians travelled from near and far to attend                              Impact! The Co-operators Youth Conference for Sustainability Leadership. While minimizing the conference’s carbon footprint was a priority, sometimes nothing can rival face to face meetings to fuel great ideas and launch important initiatives.

All told, the total carbon footprint for the conference was 132 metric tonnes of CO2:

Air travel = 114 tonnes
Rail= 5 tonnes
Meals = 3 tonnes
Hotel rooms and meeting space = 10 tons

To minimize the event’s ecological footprint, The Co-operators set aside funds to purchase carbon offsets and asked participants to direct the funds to one of these four Canadian organizations that provide solid offset strategies.

29% of offsets were directed to Tree Canada which uses all their funds to plant trees in Canada. The simple act of planting a tree is one of the most beneficial things that can be done for the environment and for your community.

24% of offsets went to Carbonzero’s OMHM Energy Efficiency Project  which provides energy efficiency retrofits for social housing in Montreal, Quebec. This project has been certified to: 

• Replace inefficient gas boilers in heating systems with new efficient units employing heating control.
• Build new energy efficient piping systems and switch heat generation systems from natural gas to electricity.
• Install solar heating units and retrofit buildings with heat recovery from domestic wastewater.

31% of participants chose Planetair, a Canadian organization that works on International projects. Including:

• Micro Hydropower Plant in Indonesia
• Mad’Eole – First Wind Energy Plant in Madagascar
• Solar and Efficient Stoves in Southwest Madagascar
• Efficient Stove and Briquetting Project in India
• Wind Farm Yuntag in Turkey

16% of carbon offsets went to Offsetters’  Seabird Island Indian Band Office Project – Based in Agassiz, BC, this nonprofit society provides support for people with disabilities and their families. The Band Office is committed to the guidance and provision of high quality services for the community. A ground source heat pump system was installed to reduce energy consumption and long-term operating costs.

Ground source heat pumps convert renewable heat stored below the earth’s surface into usable energy. An antifreeze solution circulates through underground piping, picking up the natural heat of the earth, which is then extracted by the heat pump and converted into energy which can be used to heat or cool a building and provide preheated water.

When planning your next event, will you calculate your carbon footprint, seek to minimize it and purchase carbon offsets?