Our principles

TerraPass is committed to delivering only the highest quality carbon offsets to our customers. We're proud of how our approach compares to those of other carbon offset providers. Here's an overview:

  • 1. We adopt the highest standards

    • TerraPass portfolio mix

    TerraPass uses CAR and VCS as its primary standards. We believe these standards ensure the highest quality for our offset portfolio.

    100% of our carbon offsets are verified annually against broadly accepted standards by independent third party verifiers. Our primary standards are the latest version of the Voluntary Carbon Standard (issued in 2008) and the Climate Action Reserve. We believe these standards ensure that you receive the highest quality offsets available.

    We publish full details of our supported standards.

  • 2. Our carbon offsets are happening now

    • TerraPass does not sell carbon offsets that depend on events far into the future, such as a forest growing to maturity or a wind farm performing to expectation for many years. Before we include any offsets in our portfolio, they have to be verified by an independent third party. In other words, an outside expert confirms that the emissions reductions have actually occurred. Global warming is an urgent problem, and we want to make a difference now, not far off in the future.

  • 3. We publish full details on every offset project

    • TerraPass portfolio mix

    Every year we publish full details of our offset portfolio

    We publish a list of all the projects with which we work to produce carbon credits, including the project name, location, type, standard, verifier and the exact quantity of carbon credits we purchased from each project. This way, you know exactly where your money goes.

    Other carbon offset providers don't do this, so it's difficult or sometimes impossible to know what you’re buying.

  • 4. Our carbon reductions are verified every step of the way

    • First, every reduction at every one of our projects gets verified by an accredited third party. Then, once a year, a different third party auditor verifies that we are running our business in accordance with the promises we make to our customers. We publish these audits on our website.

    We were the first carbon offset company in the U.S. to undergo this annual carbon purchase and supply audit. We publish the letter issued by that auditor on our web site, so you know we get everything checked and double-checked, every step of the way.

  • 5. We are intimately familiar with every project

    • Erin Craig at Beulah Landfill

    TerraPass' Erin Craig at Beulah Landfill. We know exactly where our emissions credits come from.

    We work with each potential project to make sure it meets the high standards necessary to be part of our project portfolio, talking to the people involved and assessing all aspects of the project.

    We spend time checking meters and pipes at landfills, and walking the waste stream flushing routes at dairies. It's not glamorous but we think it's important to understand the nuts and bolts (and effluents and gases) of what we do.

  • 6. We keep our prices competitive

    • Because we only use source carbon credits that meet the highest standards, we simply can't meet the prices offered by the bargain basement providers. That doesn’t mean we charge premium prices, though; we charge a fair price for a great product, and we think you’ll appreciate the value of our uncompromising approach to quality.

  • 7. Our mission is fighting global warming

    • TerraPass is a mission-driven business: unlike most other businesses we have a social goal. We strive to reduce the greatest amount of carbon emissions we can. We do this through education (largely via our newsletter), online tools, and carbon offsets.

    We are passionate about fighting climate change and we believe the best way to do it is by running our business as a business, pushing ourselves to run a lean and efficient operation that can grow to meet the enormous challenge we face in global warming.

  • We love to hear from you

    • If you have any questions or comments about these principles then please get in touch. Our customer service phone line is open from 9am to 5pm PST at (877) 210-9581. Our email inbox works around the clock at info@terrapass.com. We're looking forward to talking to you.