Introduction to Sustainability

August 26, 2024

These days, so many people like to talk about going green and what it means to be sustainable. But that can get a little confusing. What’s the difference between a ton and a metric ton? What are Carbon Offsets, and what does it mean to retire them? And why is carbon in most of these words?

Well, we’ve got you covered on all that, and more. Here’s a list of quick and simple explanations of key terms. Read on, and before long, you’ll be on your way to being a sustainability expert too.

Table of Contents:

1. Carbon:

As one of the basic building blocks of the universe, you can find carbon just about anywhere. It’s an element (simply “C” on the periodic table) that you can find in rocks, oceans, and even your own body. That’s right – carbon makes up almost a fifth of the average person’s body!

When talking about sustainability, some people use the word “carbon” as shorthand for carbon emissions. But that can be misleading on Carbon’s role in the environment. Carbon has no major impact on the atmosphere by itself, but due to how it bonds to so many other elements, it appears often in greenhouse gases – such as Carbon Dioxide (CO2).

2. Greenhouse Gas (GHG):

A variety of gases in the atmosphere that capture heat energy, instead of letting it escape back into space. It’s sort of like getting into your car on a hot summer day. If you leave your windows rolled up, the heat energy inside your car has nowhere to go, so it becomes hotter. While there are many different gases that are considered Greenhouse Gases, Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is one of the most common.
 

3. Carbon Footprint:

Whether you’re driving a car, eating dinner, taking a shower, or air conditioning your house, a lot of your day-to-day activities create greenhouse gases. The impact of all these gases, when added together, is your carbon footprint.

Some common ways people try to shrink their carbon footprints are by doing things such as recycling, eating local, or driving hybrid cars. But even with all these activities, it’s impossible to completely eliminate your carbon footprint. However, there are other ways to balance out your impact.
 

4. Carbon Neutral:

When you can say your actions and activities in your daily life create no carbon emissions in the environment, that is called being Carbon Neutral. Although in reality it is nearly impossible to eliminate your entire carbon footprint, you can take individual actions to reduce your environmental impact. But even after you’ve significantly reduced your carbon footprint, there will still be some greenhouse gases created through your activities.

That’s where programs like Greener Life® can help. Using carbon offset credits, you can neutralize your remaining emissions. If you offset all of your emissions, then you can say that you’ve had a net-zero impact on the environment. In other words, you’re carbon neutral.
 

5. Carbon Offset:

People and companies can take on activities that reduce, avoid, or destroy greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. When they do, they can also get credit for the environmental benefits of those actions.

Imagine someone who plants a bunch of trees. In addition to making wood and creating an ecosystem for wildlife, these trees also pull carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. We can measure that impact and give credit to the person who planted the trees. Those credits can then be sold and traded. This gives the seller a good reason to plant more trees, and it transfers credit to the buyer for the environmental impact of the project.

One carbon offset is the equivalent of removing 1 metric ton of CO2E from the atmosphere. All the offsets GNG purchases for the Greener Life program come from a mix of projects that have been validated and registered under the high-quality standards of the Climate Action Reserve and the American Carbon Registry.
 

6. Carbon Dioxide Equivalent (CO2E):

Different greenhouse gases have different impacts on the environment. In order to get an “apples-to-apples” comparison of conservation efforts, we need a single way to measure and talk about those different impacts. That’s where CO2E comes in, and why it is a standard used all over the world.

Instead of trying to measure each greenhouse gas individually, we compare it to global warming potential of carbon dioxide. For example, one metric ton of methane has 28 times the global warming potential of the same amount of carbon dioxide. So, by removing a ton of methane from the atmosphere, you’re removing 28 metric tons of CO2E.
 

7. Metric Ton:

A metric ton is a ton as measured using the metric system, as opposed to the imperial system we commonly use in the United States. One ton for us is 2,000 pounds. One metric ton is actually 2,204.62 pounds.
 

8. Retiring Carbon Offsets:

Carbon offsets can be bought and sold. But the owner of the offset does not get credit for the environmental benefit of that offset until they “retire” it. Retiring an offset means you take that specific offset out of circulation – it can’t be bought or sold anymore. It’s only then that the owner can claim the environmental benefit from the offset and reduce their carbon footprint.

Retiring offsets is the system used to prevent people from double counting the benefits from the offset, or claiming credit they don’t actually deserve.
 

9. Green-e Climate:

At Georgia Natural Gas, we know it is important that we do our part to preserve and protect the environment. But it is also important that we do so in an honest and transparent way. That is why we partnered with Green-e Climate to certify our Greener Life program. The Center for Resource Solutions’ Green-e® Climate certification program is the trusted global leader in clean energy certification.

Green-e Climate certified offsets meet the most rigorous standard for quality. Because of this independent oversight, you can be sure you are getting the environmental benefits GNG promises through Greener Life.
 

10. Greenwashing:

Every day, more people are interested in making sure they do business with an environmentally responsible company. In order to get this business, companies can sometimes be misleading when it comes to their sustainability efforts. Or it could be that they support projects that aren’t certified by a credible third party, and may not have a provable, positive impact on the environment.

This is called Greenwashing, and it’s something we don’t do at GNG.

Genuinely green products and projects will always be transparent, and back their claims with scientifically provable documentation. This is what Greener Life does, and why it was so important for us to partner with Green-e Climate, a trusted third-party auditor that can give you confidence that we’re truly making a difference with Greener Life.

11. Fossil Fuels:

Fossil Fuels don’t necessarily come from dinosaurs, but they are created over long periods of time from dead plants and animals in the earth’s crust. When pulled out of the ground, these fuels can be burned for heat and energy. But when they are burned, they release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

The most common fossil fuels are coal, oil, and natural gas. Of these, natural gas is the cleanest burning.
 

12. Hydroflourocarbons (HFCs):

If you own an air conditioner, refrigerator, a fire extinguisher, or a can of hairspray, you probably own Hydrofluorocarbons. HFCs are chemicals that are commonly used for cooling and aerosols – and they are also incredibly potent greenhouse gases. According to the EPA, HFCs can have an impact up to 1,430 times worse than carbon dioxide.

The good news is these HFCs can be recycled. That’s why in 2023, GNG introduced HFC recycling projects to our Greener Life program.