DriveNeutral was created to foster education and action around the imminent problems of greenhouse gas emissions. We help make it easy for individuals and organizations to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions directly and through participating in innovative market-based solutions to global climate change. Read below for a general overview and beneath the graphics for a more in-depth description. Also see, Local Benefits for Colorado Residents

Everyone has a carbon footprint. Carbon is the main greenhouse gas behind climate change. Your carbon footprint is unique to you. How you travel, use electricity, and even how you eat are all factors. Companies also have a carbon footprint . Their footprints can be quite a bit larger.

Like you, many companies want to make their footprints smaller. An exchange was created to help them do this. The exchange sets emissions reduction goals and tracks members’ progress. Companies who exceed their goals can trade carbon credits with those who fall short. In the big picture, as companies reach their goals, carbon emissions drop each year.

With DriveNeutral, you can vote with your dollars to drive greater emission reductions. First, you calculate your carbon footprint. Then, you buy and retire credits for that amount. This increases demand. And it gives companies a reason to make their footprints even smaller.

The result? Fewer greenhouse gases. Responsible companies, responsible people. And healthy and sustainable planet for everyone.

The Fine Print: What We Do and How We Do It

DriveNeutral gives everyone the power to stop climate change. From individuals to businesses to nonprofits to schools, we help you calculate – and then neutralize – your carbon emissions. By no means do we consider this The Answer to global warming. But it’s the best way we know of to start reducing the threat of global warming today.

Pollution is pollution: how is it possible to neutralize emissions?
By neutralizing your emissions, you are funding an large-scale emissions reductions elsewhere. For example, if your car emitted 12,000 lbs. of CO2 last year, your donation will support 12,000 lbs. pounds of verified, legally enforceable CO2 reductions today.

Where do these carbon reductions come from?
When you buy a carbon-neutral certification from DriveNeutral, we buy emissions reduction credits on your behalf The Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX).

The Chicago Climate Exchange supplies the highest-quality, third-party-verified, and legally accountable emissions reductions credits available today.

What’s the Chicago Climate Exchange?
Founded in 2003, the Chicago Climate Exchange functions as a kind of stock market for greenhouse gas emissions. Its 175+ members include companies like DuPont, Bayer, and Baxter Chemical, and American Electric Power. Membership is entirely voluntary, but members are legally bound to comply once they join. Upon joining, members calculate their average greenhouse gas emissions between 1998 and 2001. Each year, they aim to reduce emissions 6% below their annual baseline by 2010.

Why would a major corporation voluntarily reduce its emissions?
Believe it or not, many companies sincerely want to do the right thing. There’s also a financial incentive. Companies that reduce more emissions than required can trade offsets with companies that didn’t quite meet their goals. As demand for credits increases, so does their price. It’s a win-win situation for both you and the companies that reduce.

How do I know companies will do what they say?
Qualified, independent experts verify all CCX offsets on-site at each member company. In addition, CCX reduction credits are audited by The National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD). No other United States program has this level of enforceability and accountability.

Can I buy credits directly from the Chicago Climate Exchange?
Only CCX members can trade credits on the exchange. That’s where DriveNeutral comes in. Our parent organization, the Presidio School of Management, is an Associate member of CCX. The School buys and permanently retires blocks of carbon credits, then parcels them out to people like you.

We like to think of it as an experiment in democracy, opening the market to public participation. Not only does your participation neutralize emissions, but it also matures, develops, and proves a cutting-edge market in pollution reduction. When governmental policy eventually catches up to the markets (and it will), you’ll already be a part of the solution.

How exactly are emissions reduction credits generated?
CCX Members that fall short of their goals can buy credits from those who make extra reductions or from verified offset projects. Most reductions are achieved through increased energy efficiency in member companies’ operations. Others are achieved through the support of offset projects. Here are just a few examples of offset projects available on the exchange:

• Methane destruction: Farms and landfills earn offsets by using special digesters to collect and destroy methane—one of the most destructive greenhouse gases.
• Agricultural practices: Farmers can earn offsets by planting directly over the soil from the last crop, rather than tilling. They can also earn offsets by planting grass and trees and by collecting methane from manure.
• Forestry practices: Forestry practices. Eligible projects include forestation and forest enrichment, combined forestation and forest conservation projects, and urban tree planting.
• Renewable energy: Renewable energy projects like wind, solar, hydropower, and biofuel systems can earn offsets based on the amount of grid-supplied, carbon-emitting power they displace.