Oxford Definition: “The amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere as a result of the activities of a particular individual, organization, or community.”

At Sphere we go further and calculate a Carbon Footprint by including all gases that result in global warming. Therefore our calculations take into account these gases in addition to Carbon Dioxide (CO2). The term used for all greenhouse gasses is Carbon Dioxide Equivalent or CO2e, which is measured in tonnes.

We calculate the average carbon footprint based on your country of residence, each country we service has it’s own data set and therefore results.

We are not interested in only offsetting Carbon Dioxide, we need to offset all the greenhouse gases we omit; Methane, Nitrous Oxide, etc. Therefore when collecting data we make sure it captures all the Greenhouse Gases. To keep things simple, the United Nations (UN) collates all Greenhouse gasses into a single figure called “CO2 equivalent” or “CO2e”. The amount of CO2e emitted is typically recorded in tonnes per year.

There are two key pieces of data we require to accurately calculate the average Carbon Footprint per person in a given country; total net greenhouse gas emissions (CO2e tonnes) and the total population. Our greenhouse gas emission data is published each year by the UNFCC. The UNFCC stands for “United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change”, which is a body setup by the UN to tackle climate change.

However at Sphere we don’t believe this goes far enough, what about the greenhouse gases emitted as a result of the things we consume that are made abroad? Therefore we add on the emissions released as a result of the consumables that are imported into each nation. This data is gathered from another independent authority, Our World in Data.

Once these two emission figures are added together we can then divide by the population of the country to get an average Carbon Footprint per person.

At Sphere we always promote that everyone not only offsets but also makes an effort to reduce their carbon footprint as much as possible. Below are some top tips on how to greatly reduce your carbon emissions:

- Eat seasonal, local and sustainably produced foods.

- Buy products made in your home country.

- Use public transport as much as possible, or better yet cycle / walk.

- Holiday in your home country, go explore.

- Upcycle or buy from charity shops.

- Turn down your thermostat and pop on a jumper.

- Turn off the lights and unplug devices not in use.

- Take shorter showers.

- Under 40 degree clothing washes and hang dry.

- Buy renewable electricity,

Sphere only back projects that are independently certified by the UN to ensure that they indeed offset emissions that would not have otherwise been offset. These UN certifications are internationally recognised and trusted. The UN certified projects that we support have to pass a strict and thorough certification process known as Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). This is to prove that the projects indeed offer genuine carbon offsets and meet the requirements of the Kyto Protocol (an international treaty that commits countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions).

Yes of course.

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Transparency is key to building trust with our members.

Each month we publish the current subscriber numbers, the amount of CO2e we need to offset and the corresponding certifications to prove the amount of CO2e we have offset via the projects we back. Please visit our evidence page to see all of this information first hand.

You can see a sample of the projects we have backed here.

Each month we send a newsletter sharing the details on the UN certified offset projects backed that month (be sure to subscribe to our newsletter).

Sphere only back projects that are independently certified by the UN to ensure that they offset emissions that would not have otherwise been offset. These certifications are internationally recognised and trusted. The UN certified projects that we support have to pass a strict and thorough certification process known as Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). This is to prove that the projects indeed offer genuine carbon offsets and meet the requirements of the Kyto Protocol.

In order to have the rapid impact needed to save our planet, we decided to keep our subscription options as simple as possible.

Both subscription packages (Zero & Plus) cater for the vast majority of people. If you wish to offset even more, simply alter the amount of subscriptions at checkout.

Sphere is not a charity. In order to have the rapid positive impact required for our planet, we need to grow swiftly. Charitable organisations come with a number of limitations including the inability to benefit from government grants, which would greatly stunt our growth potential.

Furthermore, to expand promptly, Sphere will need to rely on funding from investors. It is not possible to invest in charitable organisations.

The average flight length is about 2 hours. A 2 hour flight on average will emit circa 0.2t CO2e per passenger (taking into account the negative impact of emissions at altitude (radiative forcing)).

Therefore for a UK citizen (average Carbon Footprint of 9.24t CO2e per year) your Sphere Zero subscription will offset approximately 46 average flights.

Economies of scale and the power of subscription. Sphere intends to expand it’s membership numbers as much as possible, giving us more and more buying power in the carbon offset global market. This keeps our costs and therefore prices low.

Furthermore, by having many members allows us to operate on very tight margins. By using a subscription based model, we hope that we can create a snowball effect whilst keeping marketing costs to a minimum. We also greatly rely on word of mouth, so please share and spread the word about Sphere. We will never compromise on the quality of Carbon Offset projects that we support, all will be UN certified or better.

All businesses vary greatly, so please contact us for a bespoke package to make your business Carbon Neutral.

The vast majority of greenhouse gases are made up of Carbon Dioxide (CO2). However there are several greenhouse gases that although less common, also have a significant impact on global warming (e.g. Methane, Nitrous Oxide, etc.).

To simplify matters these are combined into a single unit of measure known as "Carbon Dioxide Equivalent" or CO2e for short.

Therefore when we say we are offseting 1 tonne of CO2e, it means we are offsetting 1 tonne in weight of greenhouse gases.