by Candace Turtle and Lorrie Kline Kaplan, Ashland Climate Collaborative
When you’re traveling this year, whether it’s a flight across the country or a gas-powered road trip, there are pollution-causing emissions that come along for the ride.
For years, carbon offsets have been one answer: pay a little extra, and your impact is offset by a climate-friendly project somewhere else in the world. But what about closer to home?
The Ashland Climate Collaborative’s Ashland Climate Action Fund makes it simple and easy to support local climate action. It is a homegrown alternative to traditional carbon offsetting — one that keeps your contribution working right here in our community. Instead of sending dollars to distant projects or renewable credits overseas, you’re investing in Ashland’s climate future.
When you give to the Action Fund, you’re helping real, visible change happen locally. Donations help your neighbors adopt cleaner home energy by making the switch to electric heating and appliances. They support community composting programs that divert waste and cut methane, a super polluter. They help promote safer streets for walking and biking, making it easier to leave the car at home.
How much should I give based on my trip?
There’s no perfect formula — what matters is participating and giving what feels right to you. Ashland Climate Collaborative is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, which means your donation to the Climate Action Fund is fully tax-deductible. If you’re looking for guidelines and suggestions, here are a few:
- One cross-country flight = $30-50
- One international flight = $60-100
- One 100-mile road trip in a gas-powered vehicle = $2-5
- Weekend event family travel = $25-75
Local investment is powerful!
This isn’t about “canceling out” emissions somewhere else. It’s about strengthening the systems that reduce emissions here in Ashland — over time, at scale, and in ways that benefit the whole community.
Research consistently shows that we are far more likely to take climate action when we see the people around us doing the same. Every contribution to the Climate Action Fund does double duty: it funds local projects and it signals to your neighbors that climate change is something Ashland takes seriously. This visibility matters, and when giving to the Climate Action Fund becomes normal, more people will do it and the effect compounds!
Most of us love to travel. Maybe you have plans to visit family far away, bucket list adventures, or professional obligations that put you on planes. It’s real life, and the Climate Action Fund isn’t asking you to give any of that up. It’s simply asking: “While you’re traveling out there, will you invest in our community back here?”
This is a chance to make your travel mean something beyond the destination, and to come home knowing you helped build the Ashland we all want to live in. Individual trips add up fast, but so does community action.
Learn more or contribute at ashlandclimate.org/action-fund. (There are links to more established carbon offset programs there, too, in case that’s your jam.) Even a small gift is one of many meaningful actions we can take to protect this place we love.
Candace Turtle and Lorrie Kaplan are co-founders of the Ashland Climate Collaborative, a 501c3 nonprofit organization. Visit AshlandClimate.org for more information.