An example:

Let’s say I went on a vacation with two friends and wanted to offset my carbon footprint for this trip. We traveled by passenger car 100 miles to and from the airport. We took my friend’s car, and I do not know the fuel efficiency (Miles Per Gallon) of the vehicle. We flew 4,000 miles roundtrip to our destination and back. While on vacation, I took a motorcycle tour of the city that spanned 50 miles.

1. Open the calculator and select “ground travel” as the usage type.

2. Select “passenger” as type of vehicle.

3. Enter “200” into the “total miles driven” box.

4. Since I don’t know the fuel efficiency of my friend’s car, I’ll use the average, which is 24.4 miles per gallon (MPG). The RENEW Carbon Offset Calculator has auto-populated the passenger car average into the fuel efficiency, so there’s nothing for me to change at this time!

5. I also want to offset my motorcycle tour. Click the checkbox that says “Add Vehicle/Trip”

6. In the “Vehicle 2” section that’s just opened, select “motorcycle” as the type of vehicle.

7. Enter “50” into the “total miles driven” box.

8. The average fuel efficiency for a motorcycle is listed in the “I” information circle: 44mpg. Enter “44” in the “fuel efficiency box.”

9. Next, we’ll offset our air trip. Go back to the top of the calculator where it says “Select Usage Type,” and click the “Air Travel” bubble. The numbers we calculated in ground travel will carry over automatically.

10. Drag the green arrow under “Total Passengers” to “3.” Be sure to include yourself in the total number of passengers!

11. Enter “4,000” under “total miles flown.”

And that’s it! I now know the cost to offset my vacation. The total carbon emissions for this vacation is 4,473.57 pounds. The cost to offset this is $55.92.

Let’s say that, in addition to calculating my footprint for this vacation, I also want to offset my annual household electric and gas usage in one donation.

1. Go back to the top of the calculator where it says “Select Usage Type,” and click the “Household Usage” bubble. The numbers we calculated for the vacation will carry over automatically.

2. I’ll use the average again here, found in the “I” information bubble for my electric usage. The monthly average in Rochester is 600 kWh.

3. Since I’m trying to figure out my annual electric use, I’ll multiply 600 by 12 (months), for a total of 7,200.

4. Input 7,200 into the box labeled “Monthly Electricity Usage.

5. Follow the same steps for gas usage. Note: You don’t need to “add another energy use” to do this. Use that option if you want to calculate for another household.

6. I’ll use the average again for gas usage, found in the “I” information bubble. The monthly average in Rochester is 83.33 Therms.

7. Multiply 83.33 by 12 (months) for the annual gas usage, for a total of 999.96 Therms.

8. Input 999.96 into the box labeled “Monthly Gas Usage.”

After adding my household usage to my vacation calculations, my GRAND TOTAL Carbon Emissions is 27.252.61 pounds. I should donate $340.66 to RENEW to offset my emissions.

Next, I’ll click the green button below the calculator that says “Donate TOTAL CARBON OFFSET to the RENEW Climate Fund,” which will redirect me to the RENEW Climate Fund donation page.

1. Once I’ve visited https://www.racf.org/fund/renew-climate-fund/, I’ll scroll and type $340.66 into the donation amount box under section one, “Gift Amount.”

2. Fill out the rest of the form as prompted.

3. Click submit!

Congratulations! You’ve done your part to offset your carbon footprint and help our neighbors make their homes more energy-efficient, healthier, and safer. When you donate to the RENEW climate fund, your contribution stays local and helps clean the air we all breathe!