# 11 Carbon Offsets You Can Trust

*Published:* 2008-09-10
*Author:* Sheryl Canter

![Sheryl Canter](http://environmentaldefenseblogs.org/climate411/wp-content/blogs.dir/7/files/2008/07/sheryl_canter.jpg)You probably know that you should do what you can to [reduce](https://blogs.edf.org/climate411/2008/01/02/green_living/) your [carbon footprint](https://blogs.edf.org/climate411/2007/05/10/carbon_footprint/) – the greenhouse gas emissions produced by your lifestyle. After you’ve done that, you can negate what remains by supporting projects to reduce emissions elsewhere – that is, by purchasing "carbon offsets". This works because, from a global warming perspective, it doesn’t matter where the carbon comes from.

Carbon offsets are a good idea, but it’s hard to know whether a given project truly reduces carbon emissions. There are [no unified standards](https://blogs.edf.org/climate411/2007/08/16/real_offsets/). To help you make good choices, Environmental Defense Fund has just published [CarbonOffsetList.org](http://www.edf.org/page.cfm?tagID=23994), a guide to high-quality offset projects for businesses and consumers. These are projects that we would turn to for our own offset needs. Check it out!

*This post is by Sheryl Canter, an online writer and editorial manager at Environmental Defense Fund.*