YOU’VE HEARD Invest in carbon offsets
WE SAY Don’t buy into it
This is an idea that sounds great in theory, but in practice, not so much. Here’s the premise: To offset emissions you create going about your daily business—washing your clothes or commuting to work—you can pay a company that promises to help the environment by, say, curtailing air pollution; developing renewable energy sources, like wind power; or planting trees.

While it is a brilliant marketing idea, you can’t cancel out the effects of your activities, says Dorfman. “Once you’ve taken a flight, the emissions from the plane are already in the atmosphere. There’s no way to get rid of them, no matter how many trees you plant.” Investing in carbon offsets may help alleviate some guilt, but it doesn’t impact the bigger picture. Curtailing your energy use is a much more effi cient alternative.