The World's First Personal Carbon Credit

The reduction of personal carbon emissions has official, demonstrated market value. Not very big value, but value nonetheless...

Tami and Randy Wilson, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, just recently sold a carbon credit. They are the first family in history to earn a carbon credit for a reduction in personal carbon emissions.

They made the sale through a website called My Emissions Exchange, and the buyer was Molten Metal Equipment Innovations of Middlefield, Ohio. The credit sold for USD 21.50. My Emissions Exchange took a 20% commission. And the Wilsons walked away from the deal USD 17.20 richer.

That USD 17.20 wasn't the reason they reduced their emissions, of course. In fact, they earned the credit accidentally. Responding to an impending 30% increase in electricity costs, the family got efficient and got efficient fast, getting rid of a heated water bed, becoming vigilant about leaving lights and appliances on, hang-drying their laundry, and even installing solar panels. When they discovered My Emissions Exchange, they signed up, provided information on their past and current energy usage, and found out that they had prevented more than a ton of carbon from floating up into the atmosphere.

It might be smart for the GREENandSAVE community to take note. True, one check for USD 17.20 probably won't serve as huge financial motivation, but, if you're already getting efficient, which we hope we're helping many of you do, you might want to look into signing up for My Emissions Exchange or finding another similar carbon emissions reduction tracker. Maybe someday a ton of carbon will be worth USD 17,200. Who knows.