Click, Calculate, Contribute - Offsetters' New Online Carbon Calculator Ensures Offsetting Your Vancouver 2010 Winter Games Green House Gas Emissions is Just A Mouse Click Away

Vancouver, BC - By clicking onto www.offsetters.ca, visitors to Vancouver for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games can calculate their carbon footprint for attending, and offset their footprint by purchasing carbon credits immediately online.

Offsetters, the Official Supplier of Carbon Offsets  to the  2010 Winter Games, created the online calculator to help raise awareness. Spectators attending the event will account for nearly half of the entire green house gas emissions attributed to Games related activities.

The Offsetters carbon calculator allows users to easily discover the climate impact of their travel, event and accommodation choices when coming to experience the 2010 Winter Games. With just a click of a mouse, users can purchase offsets from the 2010 Legacy Portfolio – a portfolio of clean technology  projects, created specifically for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games. 

The 2010 Legacy Portfolio includes 50 per cent Gold Standard offsets from international projects and 50 per cent local, BC- based clean technology projects, to symbolize the global and local nature of the Olympic movement.  Further, online gift certificates, available for purchase on the Offsetters website will enable people to give the gift of offsets from the 2010 Legacy Portfolio to friends and family.

In its goal  to host a carbon neutral 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, the Vancouver Organizing Committee, together with Offsetters’ will work to reduce a minimum of 118,000 tonnes of carbon emissions into the atmosphere, thereby offsetting “direct” emissions from the Games by the same amount. VANOC and Offsetters will also work to offset an additional estimated 150,000 tonnes of “indirect” carbon emissions from the Games. The indirect carbon emissions, will be created by, spectators, guests, sponsors and partners of the 2010 Winter Games and therefore it is important that everyone attending take responsibility for their own offsets.

For example, a family of four travelling from Calgary by air, sharing a hotel room for three nights and attending four events would have a carbon footprint of close to one tonne.  By purchasing carbon offsets for $25 they will reduce their carbon impact, and this reduction in emissions will be calculated towards the overall goal.

“Our vision for the 2010 Travel & Accommodation carbon calculator was to make it easy, accessible and just a click away from contributing to a more climate friendly 2010 Winter Games,” says Kari Grist, Offsetters’ Vice President Marketing and Client Engagement. “It can also be easily embedded on other websites as a constant reminder for everyone to do our part in reducing the carbon footprint of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.”

“One of the best legacies of the 2010 Winter Games would be increased awareness and action on the small changes everyone can make to reduce their impact on the environment,” said Linda Coady, Vice President Sustainability at VANOC. “Games spectators and other viewing audiences are provided with this opportunity to make a difference in their own way and understand their role in the fight against climate change.

The 2010 Travel & Accommodation carbon calculator can be found online at www.offsetters.ca. Also online, Offsetters provides information about the collaboration with VANOC for the 2010 Carbon Partner Program, information about the 2010 Legacy Portfolio, 2010 Winter Games carbon facts and more ideas on how people can do their part to help make Olympic and Paralympic history in the hosting of carbon neutral 2010 Winter Games. 

About Offsetters:

As Canada’s first and leading carbon management provider, Offsetters helps individuals and companies understand, reduce, track and offset their climate impact – in that order. Headquartered in Vancouver, BC, Offsetters  is the first ever Official Supplier of Carbon Offsets to an Olympic games and will be providing the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) with carbon credits sourced from clean technologies developed in BC’s Lower Mainland. In 2009, Offsetters  was also selected by the Pacific Carbon Trust as the first supplier of carbon offsets to the BC Crown Corporation. For more information go to www.offsetters.ca

About VANOC:

VANOC is responsible for the planning, organizing, financing and staging of the XXI Olympic Winter Games and the X Paralympic Winter Games in 2010. The 2010 Olympic Winter Games will be staged in Vancouver and Whistler from February 12 to 28, 2010. Vancouver and Whistler will host the Paralympic Winter Games from March 12 to 21, 2010. Visit www.vancouver2010.com.

Media Contact:

Deirdre Campbell, Tartan Group, 250-592-3838 or (cell) 250-882-9199.