ReduceYour Carbon Footprint, Earn Money

There are numerous blog posts and “how-to” guides aimed at helping you save money each month as you use less energy . However, there are precious few programs that actually pay you to reduce your carbon footprint. However, this is exactly what My Emissions Exchange proposes to do.

As you probably know, there is a carbon market out there, with cap and trade systems that allow participants to buy and sell carbon credits . (The U.S. carbon market is in Chicago.) But getting access to the market as an individual is a bit difficult. My Emissions Exchange is designed to help you “sell” your carbon savings on the market. After entering your energy usage for the past year, you update each month’s use and My Emissions Exchange will record it. The company then packages savings into credits, and sells them on the market. You are compensated a portion of the sale , paid to you via PayPal.

An email I received from My Emissions Exchange offers this insight into the motivation behind the program:

The idea is to influence individual consumer behavior by providing an extra financial incentive to minimize your carbon footprint . Consumers will already save considerably by reducing their utility bills; this program will provide them with advice, a built-in “support group” and cheering section in the form of the other users of the site, and an extra financial bonus for the resulting verified carbon credits.

It looks like an interesting program, and one I want to learn more about. After all, appears to be a step in the right direction in terms of rewards for desirable behavior , rather than punishment for undesirable behavior.