Carbon Balancing: A Practical and Local Way to Make a Positive Impact

DENVER, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- A new program headquartered in Colorado gives everyone a chance to make a local difference using their own carbon footprint as their guide.

Carbon Cut Colorado was launched by the Energy Resource Center (ERC), a Colorado-focused non-profit founded in 1979. The Carbon Cut Colorado website offers calculators for determining  the carbon impact and carbon cost of things like driving miles, electricity use, gas consumption and flights. Users are able to donate their carbon cost to ERC, an organization that uses the funds to do energy-saving projects for income-qualified households in 27 Colorado counties.

"We are calling it 'carbon balancing' because you can make a local impact based on your own carbon use which will help tip the scale of carbon emissions," says Mike Mazzola, Development Director for ERC.  "For example, if you take a drive to the mountains, you can use the Carbon Cut Colorado calculator and make a donation based on those driving miles. We will then use those funds to replace inefficient equipment, upgrade a home to LED lightbulbs, and more, possibly right in your neighborhood, which will decrease carbon emissions."

On average, the work ERC does reduces the carbon footprint of each home by 3,755 lbs per year and reduces the demand on coal-fired power plants by replacing inefficient and wasteful appliances and equipment. By donating to the organization, individuals and businesses can balance their own carbon footprint and support work that reduces carbon emissions. The donations will be used to increase the number of households that ERC works on each year.

"We know that reducing a carbon footprint is the first step to a healthy environment, but when we can't fully eliminate that footprint, Carbon Cut Colorado will balance it by funding work that is proven to reduce carbon emissions in our state," says Howard Brooks, CEO of ERC.

According to Brooks, "ERCs goal is to end energy poverty in Colorado. We can do that if we can expand the number of households we work on every year. This program will help fund that expansion, and carbon emissions will decrease with each home we complete."

Carbon Cut Colorado uses nationally recognized formulas for their calculations, and provides information on how they calculate their impact at www.carboncutco.com.

ABOUT CARBON CUT COLORADO

Carbon Cut Colorado is a program of Energy Resource Center that aims to reduce the overall carbon footprint of the state by providing ways for individuals and businesses to balance their own carbon impact. The program funds the free energy-efficiency work of Energy Resource Center.

ABOUT ENERGY RESOURCE CENTER

The Energy Resource Center is a non-profit organization with offices in Loveland, Denver, Colorado Springs, and Alamosa. ERC serves households across 27 counties. Since 1979, they have helped thousands of Colorado families make their homes safe, warm, and energy efficient.

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SOURCE Energy Resource Center