Air Canada and Zerofootprint Expand Voluntary Carbon Offset Program
Air Canada, the largest full-service airline in Canada, and Zerofootprint, a leading organization in the global fight against climate change, today announced the expansion of the bilingual Voluntary Carbon Offset program, providing customers that want to minimize the environmental impact of their air travel with two new ISO-14064 certified carbon offsets projects.
The two new projects being offered are:
Landfill Gas Recovery – Ontario – Captures landfill gas from a landfill and distributes it to a nearby plant that produces recycled content paper.
Tire Recycling Program – Quebec – Utilizes used car and truck tires to manufacture a variety of products that include rubber carpets, car mats, new tires and an assortment of other post-consumer goods.
These two new projects provide additional options for customers to neutralize their carbon footprint when traveling with Air Canada, in addition to the existing Forest Restoration project in British Columbia, working to create a forest that will continue to be healthy beyond the lifespan of the current generation of trees.
At Air Canada, we are committed to finding and implementing innovative ways to protect the environment, and we have implemented a number of programs, from on-board recycling to more fuel-efficient aircraft," said Guylaine Lavoie, Director Marketing Innovations at Air Canada. "In collaboration with Zerofootprint, we launched the Voluntary Carbon Offset Program, and we are pleased to expand the program with additional offset projects to provide more choices for our passengers striving to mitigate the environmental footprint of their travel."
Customers purchasing certified offsets through this program will see their funds go toward projects that result in measurable, verified reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Funds are directed toward certified, fully transparent and independently audited projects.
"Offsetting is an interim measure that individuals can use to mitigate activities that contribute to climate change, but that are sometimes difficult to avoid" said Ron Dembo, CEO and founder of Zerofootprint. "At Zerofootprint we advise individuals and organizations to measure environmental impact, reduce their footprint as much as possible, and finally to take advantage of carbon offset programs. Offsets with real, tangible, audited benefits are an important mechanism for neutralizing environmental impact."
The Voluntary Carbon Offset program first launched in 2007, and since then passengers have offset 15,554 tonnes of CO2 emissions, which is equivalent to almost taking 4,000 cars off the road.
