Brighter Planet

How is an offset retired, and why?

The offsets you earn by using Brighter Planet products are legal property rights, so to ensure that they have the intended positive environmental benefits, we make sure that your offsets are never sold to someone else later. When you earn offsets, therefore, the property right associated with the offset is automatically donated to Clean Air-Cool Planet, an independent non-profit 501( c )(3), that commits to retire them permanently.

CA-CP is somewhat like a “land trust”; it accepts donations and ensures that they are always used in the way that the donor specifies. Rather than donating land for conservation, however, we donate offsets to CA-CP on your behalf and specify that they should never be re-used.

Am I “investing” or “donating”?

Brighter Planet purchases and donates offsets on behalf of its members. Our members, therefore, are helping build renewable energy, but do not own parts of projects in the sense of an investment.

How can I be sure that Clean Air-Cool Planet is receiving the property rights associated with the offsets I earn?

Clean Air-Cool Planet keeps track of every offset retired on behalf of Brighter Planet members and sends this information to Brighter Planet on an annual basis. In this way, Brighter Planet ensures that offsets earned by members are retired and thereby create real environmental benefits. The annual statement from Clean Air-Cool Planet will be posted on the Brighter Planet website when it is available.

Members can track how many offsets will be retired on their behalf using the Brighter Planet website.