Carbon Offsetting
A lot of the greenhouse gas emissions we make are unavoidable, and sometimes we may just need to fly on holiday. If that is the case, and you want to mitigate the emissions you have made there is always the option of carbon offsetting. There has been a lot of well documented controversy around carbon offsetting, for a number of reasons, and there are particular concerns that it is being used as a vehicle for greenwashing by large corporations (You can read more about some of the issues here).
However, that doesn't mean that the carbon offsetting doesn't have a positive role to play. Environmental charities are increasingly recognising that individuals and not just businesses want to reduce their carbon footprint, so you no longer need to go through profiteering companies or airline schemes if one wants to offset. While it is not an exact science, at worst it is a good excuse to donate to charities that protect land with valuable habitats and biodiversity that act as carbon sinks
Charities that Carbon Offset:
If you know your emissions:
While it is notoriously difficult to effectively calculate exact mitigation for emissions produced, you know how much energy you have used or travel you have done, and want to offset, then the conservation charity the World Land Trust has a tool to calculate your greenhouse gas emissions from flights, car travel and household energy use, from which it calculates a cost which would protect land equivalent to offsetting your emissions.
By way of an example, for an average household with a car driving approximately 10,000 miles one shorthaul holiday abroad, and household energy use comes to around £100.
If you just want to donate to a charity that sequests carbon:
Woodland Trust - Plant trees with the Woodland trust.