A couple days ago over at my blog I posted about my desire for travel and exploration and how I adopted this personality trait from my grandparents who loved to road trip.  Back in the old days when they would spend weeks driving around the United States there was no concern of things like air pollution, carbon offsets or CO2 emissions.  With less tall buildings and virtually no smog they could drive the entire country with a camera and take in the amazing scenery.  

Unfortunately their habits happened to help contribute to the current state of things in the atmosphere but there are some bold innovators who are doing their best to bring a stop to the way we had been treating our planet in the past.

In the United States we are tackling the responsibilities of lowering emissions and increasing gas mileage now that President Barack Obama has officially announced a new national standard.  This is an effort to increase the fuel efficiency of vehicles to 35.5 miles per gallon at a minimum; it is set to be put into motion by 2016 and beginning in 2012.  

These standards are a fantastic way to increase awareness and decrease our own nation’s footprint but when I hear that entire nations are setting out to be completely carbon neutral by the year 2021 my little eco-ears perk right up with vast intrigue.

Costa Rica is a small Spanish speaking nation of approximately 4.2 million people located in Central America, nestled between Nicaragua and Panama.  With over 800 miles of coastline taken in by the two million tourists who visit this country each year, it is no wonder that over twenty five percent of the nation is located in the Protected Areas System (deemed conservation land).

Ranked fifth in the world and first in Latin America under the Environmental Performance Index, this is clearly a nation that pays close attention to the global impact of the actions of humans.  In an effort to, in my opinion, go for the gold of the highest ranking environmentally minded country in the world, Costa Rica is currently working towards becoming completely carbon neutral within the next twelve years.

As this country currently holds upwards of six percent of the entire world’s biodiversity they are motivated to maintain a pleasant habitat for these flora and fauna to flourish. 

To begin with the nation runs a “Clean Travel” program where visiting tourists can donate monies which go to organizations working to offset the emissions from the fuel used to travel to the country.  Monies collected from this fund are used to care for and maintain over fifty percent of the nation’s land which is forestry, much of which falls under the Protected Areas System of conservation land.

The traveler is able to calculate their personal carbon footprint in terms of their travel to the nation on the government’s website.  Upon discovery of the cost a donation can be made right there online to take care of the area of forest which will be soon adopting the greenhouse gas emission of the tourist. 

Where Does the Money Go? 

There are many who may be skeptical or curious as to the cost for this travel offset, not to mention where the money will actually be spent.  The National Forestry Financing Fund, known as FONAFIFO, has been accepting donations since its inception in 2007 and as of January of 2009 managed to repopulate over 300 acres of native forest species.

The investment is surprisingly low.  As a research experiment I decided to give the offset calculator a whirl.  My total CO2 tons to fly round trip from Canada (the closest direct flight option available on the website) to the capital city, San Jose was four.  The investment to offset this tonnage is only a minimum investment of $20 per traveler (donations are accepted in any denomination as well as from any individual, travel is not required to contribute to this cause).  Not bad considering all it is going to help with.

According to the Costa Rica Clean Trip website some of the money collected in the first year was used to: plant over five million trees nationwide, encourage the nation’s government to reduce their own emissions, encourage airlines, car rentals and tours to clean up their act and care for the parklands across the country.

Although the efforts of Costa Rica have gained worldwide attention they are not the first nation to announce their push for complete carbon neutrality.  The Maldives is a small nation located in the Indian Ocean and part of Asia.  With only a few hundred thousand residents the grouping of atolls is considered the smallest Asian nation but in terms of global thinking they are on the leading edge of forward thinking.

In March of 2009 the nation announced they had plans to complete similar actions to those of Costa Rica in terms of carbon offset credit purchasing for tourists, but in addition their goal is to be completely run by renewable energy sources within the next ten years.  Their plan is to make use of solar, wind and renewable resources to provide power.

The wind farm is slated to be approximately 155 turbines and solar panels will be installed as a supplement.  The nation will make use of battery back up systems on the off chance the initial systems fail and the plant that runs all of this will be powered by coconut husks.  Tourists and others are strongly encouraged to donate to this nation’s cause as well as they will not be able to finance it on their own.

The main point of nations moving toward Greener ways of thinking is that they will be able to remove themselves from the never ending cycle of a need for oil.  On a large scale this will help alleviate use of the Earth’s resources, as this fossil fuel is sure to run out sooner or later, and bring about a use of ever renewing resources such as sun and wind.  

Although none of us will likely be here to witness the day the fossil fuels run out, I for one would love to think it will no longer be an issue of concern when it does.  I would like to leave behind a world where the inhabitants are once again driving around and snapping photos of amazing scenery, they are simply doing so in a carbon neutral vehicle.