Threw $300 away on a 'carbon offset' subscription that did nothing

I signed up for this monthly carbon offset thing back in March after seeing it on Instagram. It was called something like GreenStep or EarthFix, I don't even remember the name now lol. Every month they took $25 from my account to plant trees or whatever. After 7 months I got curious and actually looked into where the money went. Turns out the trees they 'planted' were just promises on a spreadsheet with no real verification. No actual trees went into the ground near me or anywhere I could check. I basically paid $300 for a feel-good receipt that did zero for the climate. Has anyone else gotten burned by these sketchy offset programs and found a legit way to actually help?

2 comments

2 Comments

tessa_kelly18h ago

Yeah I went through the same thing with a different one last year. What actually worked for me was switching to donating directly to local conservation groups in my area where I could literally see them planting trees on weekends. Way more satisfying knowing exactly where every dollar goes even if it's a smaller scale.

leo_carr131d ago

I feel you on the "feel-good receipt" thing, that's exactly what these programs are half the time. But I think you're being a bit harsh on the concept, some legit carbon offset projects actually do get verified by third parties like Gold Standard or Verra. You just gotta do some digging before you hand over your cash, treat it like buying anything else online and check the reviews.