Five days of broadasting
That means that we estimated, as a station, how much carbon dioxide we generate across the year. We included factors like our petrol and diesel mileage, all flights, the number of bin bags we use, and the gas and electricity we consume at 6 Music as a radio station for five days of broadcasting.

With help from the organisations Future Forests and the Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Management we worked out how much carbon dioxide that means we pump into the atmosphere over five days:

A total of 3.3 tonnes.

We are going to off-set this (neutralising the amount of carbon dioxide we've created) by investing in environmentally friendly projects to counter-balance those emissions.

Option 1. Carrifran Wildwood, Scotland

Carrifran is a 1,600 acre valley in the hills between Moffat and Peebles. Carrifran Wildwood is an initiative in ecological restoration, spearheaded by the Wildwood Group. The idea is to recreate an extensive area of wild and largely forested land. Once again there will be a home for Scottish trees, flowers, birds, mammals and insects - access will be open to all.

Birch, alder and willow are the main species at Wildwood. Seeds for all the trees are collected by members of the group and most of the young trees are grown by commercial nurseries and purchased by Borders Forest Trust (BFT) when needed. Small numbers of trees, mainly of the scarcer species, are propagated by volunteers.

Option 2. Rural Solar Electrification Project, India and Sri Lanka

Many homes in rural areas of India and Sri Lanka are dependent on kerosene lamps for lighting because they have no access to grid electricity. The kerosene lamps used produce high levels of CO2 and other greenhouse gases, and are a serious fire hazard, and a cause of indoor and outdoor air pollution.

This initiative is replacing these environmentally damaging kerosene lamps with cheaper, more efficient solar powered lighting systems which produce zero CO2. In addition to the environmental benefits of this project, switching to the more energy-efficient lighting systems will eliminate the health hazards caused by kerosene fumes, including respiratory infections, lung and throat cancers, serious eye infections and cataracts.

Since the installation cost of a single solar lighting unit is around $300, families living in these rural communities cannot afford the new systems. However, by going Carbon Neutral with this project you will help them finance their purchase - a local and immediate benefit as well as long term contribution to protecting the climate.

Option 3. Energy Efficient Lighting, Caribbean

This initiative based in Jamaica, West Indies, supplies energy efficient light bulbs primarily to the tourist industry, which is the predominant industry on the island. The huge saving of carbon dioxide is of immediate benefit to the local community, as well as helping to protect the climate in the longer term.

The electricity grid network is weak throughout the Caribbean, and much of Jamaica's generation is from oil. Oil produces significant amounts of carbon dioxide - and a single energy efficient light bulb uses less than a quarter of the amount of oil as standard light bulbs. By providing an energy efficient alternative, CO2 emissions can be reduced by 400 percent.

 
You voted for us to re-invest to offset our carbon emissions in the following way:

Carrifran Wildwood, Scotland - 31%
Rural Solar Electrification in India and Sri Lanka - 60%
Energy Efficient Lighting, Caribbean - 9 %

Thank you for your vote!

So we will be sending off some pennies to be invested in India and Sri Lanka in rural solar electric projects on your behalf.

We appreciate that offsetting carbon emissions is not enough. Trying to reduce them in the first place is however an important step to helping with the fight against global warming.

Check out the rest of the Green Days site for lots of tips on how you can make a difference to global warming, or reduce your own emissions of carbon dioxide.