Climate Heroes Wanted

Climate Heroes Wanted

By: Tim Brown, Gabe Plotkin

The world needs more Climate Heroes. The apocalyptic wildfire season from California to Australia during 2020 and the devastating Texas snowstorm in 2021 serve as deadly reminders of the encroaching threat of climate change. Clearly, we all need to step up our efforts. 

At Tradewater, our approach to fighting climate change is to collect and destroy some of the most potent greenhouse gases ever made – old refrigerants.  It’s not a source of pollution that gets a lot of attention, but one pound of old refrigerant is up to 10,900 times as potent as carbon dioxide. This stuff packs a punch, which is why we are dedicated to finding as much of it as we possibly can.  So far, we’ve collected and destroyed over 4.6 million tons worth of carbon dioxide from old refrigerants.  Yet there is so much more of it out there to find, collect, and destroy.  And it’s so important to do it now. 

The world needs more Climate Heroes.

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) recently reported that there are huge volumes of old potent refrigerants in use around the world, despite international efforts to ban their production.  If not stopped, these refrigerants will leak, releasing up to 9 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent into the atmosphere. We are determined to find, collect, and destroy as much of these potent greenhouse gases as possible.  But we cannot do it alone. 

We need your help to save the planet.

Tradewater is fortunate that a community of supporters is emerging that will enable our important work to grow.  Since we launched our voluntary carbon offset program a year ago, 500 people have stepped up to support this work by calculating their carbon footprint, reducing the emissions they can, and offsetting the rest with our high impact carbon offset credits.  We call them Climate Heroes because without them, we would not be able to permanently prevent these harmful gases from being released into the atmosphere.   

Some people fear that one person can’t make a difference. We believe the opposite.

By the time Earth Day arrives on April 22nd, we’re asking you to help us grow our community of Climate Heroes to 1,500.  If each of you reading this blog shares it with two people who join the effort, we can get there.  And if each Climate Hero offsets 20 tons of emissions, 30,000 tons of greenhouse gases will be destroyed.  That’s the same as the emissions of about 3.4 million gallons of gas or 74 million miles driven.   

On average, individuals can address their carbon footprints for less than $25/month. Our subscription options make offsetting affordable and ensure that you are doing your part year-round for less than a cup of coffee a week. 

Some people fear that addressing climate change is too complicated and that one person can’t make a difference. Tradewater and our community of Climate Heroes believe the opposite.