Who we are
We started ZeroBound after trying to find a travel solution that was truly sustainable and environmentally friendly.
Most, if not all, airlines now offer carbon offsets which are intended to cancel out the greenhouse gas emissions your flight makes. Unfortunately, many of the carbon offset programs offered are not as effective as they are intended to be, or effective at all!
So what are Carbon Offsets?
So how do carbon offsets work?
Essentially, governments provide ‘carbon credits’ which are created by businesses and organisations carrying out activities that store, reduce or avoid greenhouse gas emissions. One carbon credit for every tonne of carbon dioxide or carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e).
They then sell these credits as ‘offsets’ to greenhouse gas emitting businesses.
The idea is that someone else has reduced or avoided a tonne of CO2 so a business can buy the credit that represents that reduction and use it to ‘offset’ their own emissions.
Sounds good in theory, right? Wrong.
So why not just buy carbon offsets from airlines?
Unfortunately, many carbon offsets offered don’t do what they say they do.
But don’t just take our word for it!
A recent investigation revealed extensive commercial logging occurring in a rainforest carbon project located in Papua New Guinea. The developer was selling carbon credits and promising to protect trees in that area to sequester CO2. However, it appears that the developer was simply selling the credits and removing the trees anyway. Meanwhile, Australian businesses were busy selling these fraudulent credits, believing they were ‘offsetting’ their emissions.
Last month a report revealed that more than 90% of rainforest offsets from Verra, the world’s leading carbon project verifier were worthless and did not represent genuine carbon reductions. This was largely because credits were being awarded for protecting forest areas that were unlikely to be cleared. So there was no overall benefit or improvement!
Research by the Australia Institute found that ‘avoided deforestation’ projects, which make up 1 in 5 of all carbon credits in Australia, do not represent genuine abatement. In most cases, credits were being issued for protecting areas were never going to be cleared.
So…
The unfortunate truth is that the carbon credit system we use, and the ones that airlines sell you, may not be offsetting anything and in fact may just be giving big corporations more mo the credit which you are purchasing is actually from a forest that was never intended to be cleared, a plantation that will be harvested again in the near future, or worse still, a forest that is being actively destroyed despite assurances that it would be protected, so there is no benefit at all!
So really, often what airlines are saying is, here, buy this offset which means you have effectively contributed zero carbon, congratulations!
How is ZeroBound different?
Our plan is simple:
Investing in Conservation: We invest 50% of our profits directly into environmental conservation projects, including land conservation, renewable energy, and species protection. No greenwashing — just real, impactful change.
Partner with local environmental organisations to fund land restoration: We will support the planting of new native trees in new biodiverse forests to capture these emissions. These forests are created in previously empty Australian landscapes and are legally protected to ensure they continue to exist well into the future. They are additional forests to increase emissions reductions.
Direct Land and Habitat Conservation: We aim to invest directly in land conservation and habitat restoration efforts. This includes the creation of projects aimed at preserving biodiversity, reducing pollution, and supporting renewable energy initiatives.
Join us today to travel with impact.
