Delta's Going Big for Earth Day, Offsetting Customers' Carbon Emissions

If you're flying on a domestic flight with Delta, you might just get your carbon emissions covered by the airline. In celebration of Earth Day, Delta plans to purchase carbon offsets for more than 300,000 passengers — a massive uptick from the 170,000 customers it offset for Earth Day in 2018, 100,000 in 2017 and 7,000 in 2016.

"Delta led the US aviation industry by launching the first carbon offset program in 2007, making it easy for customers to reduce the environmental impact of their travel," said John Laughter, Senior Vice President – Corporate Safety, Security and Compliance. "Delta is also the only major airline to voluntarily cap carbon emissions at 2012 levels by purchasing carbon offsets."

Passengers flying on domestic routes out of New York, Boston, Seattle, Los Angeles, Raleigh-Durham and Atlanta will have their carbon emissions for the flight offset by Delta. Passengers will also be given plantable seed paper cutouts in the shape of airplanes. Delta hopes that passengers will be inspired to continue the effort to offset carbon by planting the paper and using Delta's Carbon Calculator program to offset their future travel as well.

The offsets purchased for Earth Day will go to benefit the Conservation Coast project. The project provides environmental protection from deforestation and helps give sustainable livelihood opportunities for communities in Guatemala. The offsets purchased will go towards helping conserve more than 400 bird species as well as more than 50,000 hectares of rainforests along the Caribbean coast of Guatemala.

If you're interested in reducing your carbon emissions by purchasing offsets for your own flights, it's cheaper than might you think. For example, a round-trip from Atlanta to New York produces about 0.28 metric tons of CO2, which can be offset for less than $5. Check out Delta's site to calculate and purchase offsets using Delta's carbon offset program, then dig into our comprehensive guide to carbon offset programs across the aviation industry.

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