Carbon Reduction Challenge

We wholeheartedly believe in the value of volunteering abroad. 🙏

Our projects here at Think Pacific are holistically designed alongside the government and charity aims to provide tangible opportunities for both the host communities and the volunteers themselves.

Our last blog post highlighted just a few benefits that volunteering abroad offers, so make sure you check it out in case you missed it.

But with all these incredible benefits, any sort of international travel can still have quite a big carbon footprint.
Until all international flights operate on renewable energy or until some futurist travel machine becomes a reality (🤞), CO2 emissions is unfortunately part of international travel.

So, what’s the solution?

Well, carbon offsetting has become a common term in the travel industry. But what is carbon offsetting and why do we think carbon reduction is a better solution that anyone can embrace?

Well let’s dive in shall we?

What is Carbon Offsetting

Carbon offsetting is a term used to describe a reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide or greenhouse gases in order to compensate and offset any emissions elsewhere.

This is by no means a perfect solution – ideally, there would be no emissions at all. And although we have all the hope that this is something that will be achieved in the not too distant future, carbon offsetting is an approach to help combat any increased carbon footprint, such as with international travel.

There are large carbon offsetting schemes operated by large corporations, airlines and governments around the world. These schemes often mean you donate or pay to compensate for the additional CO2 you contributed to.

The Problems of Carbon Offsetting

“Offsetting” is perhaps a misleading phrase used within the travel industry, and seems a bit too short-term focused. We think it’s far better to just try and adopt a more environmentally conscious lifestyle. A lifestyle that has a reduced carbon footprint and one that is sustainable and can be maintained.

Carbon offsetting schemes that encourage people to pay for contributing additional CO2 almost implies that the rich can pollute the environment more, which we don’t think is the right approach to tackling global warming.

If we can all do our part to try and reduce our carbon footprint, it will help us hit global CO2 reduction targets.
The impact of international flights on CO2 and greenhouse gas emissions is clear, but instead of sitting around and doing nothing, we encourage everyone to try and do their bit to lower CO2 emissions.

Carbon Reduction Challenge

Our carbon reduction challenge is simple – we’re encouraging all our volunteers, staff, friends, and our extended Think Pacific family to embrace carbon reduction, in any way they can to help support responsible and sustainable travel.

We want to focus on just reducing the amount of CO2 we produce to help limit our overall carbon footprint.
From cycling to work instead of driving, to planting trees, to using green energy, there’s no one sole way of approaching this, but every little helps.

And let’s face it, activities like cycling or walking instead of driving is not only great for the environment, but also great for our waistlines!

Hopefully any attempts to reduce a carbon footprint will set the path for a continued lower carbon footprint lifestyle.

We’re encouraging everyone to give it a go and shout about their efforts and help spread the word. From small changes to everyday choices or products, to big fundraising efforts, we want to hear about what you get up to.

The care of the earth is everyone’s responsibility and we have faith our amazing Think Pacific community can step up to the challenge and embrace reducing their carbon footprint in every day life.

At the end of the day, we only have one planet, so let’s look after it 🌍 🤝

p.s. We’ve recently been voted as one of the top volunteering organisations (out of 10,000 providers) for project aspects like impact, safety, support and fun. Contact us to learn more about our volunteering projects to Fiji and our approach to international volunteering.