The idea that you can financially redeem yourself from transgressions against the planet certainly is exciting. But there's more to carbon offsets than buying your way out of trouble.

Unfortunately, carbon offsets are not the do-all end-all to the climate crises or any of the Earth's other problems. There really is nothing better you can do for the planet than reduce your carbon footprint and generally consume less.

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Whether driving our cars or powering our homes, simply living our daily lives causes tons of pollution. So offsetting our environmental impact through the purchase of renewable energy credits is one way to move toward a carbon neutral lifestyle. Josh Dorfman discusses exactly what is meant by energy credits and the forward-thinking organizations that are making these choices easy and effective.

I’m a skeptic by nature. So when I first started hearing about carbon offsets, my initial reaction was that they must just be a sugar pill, an empty way to make people feel less guilty about their carbon-intensive lifestyles. But I’m becoming more of a believer, and here’s why. Carbon offsets are a way to counterbalance your carbon emissions by investing in solutions such as wind energy. You purchase the “offset,” and your money goes toward developing new wind farms or preserving rainforest acreage or capturing methane. There are several companies and nonprofits that do this, in varying ways.

Sure, it's way rad how some rock stars are going carbon neutral: Coldplay planted some trees to offset production of their album X&Y; Dave Matthews made a megapurchase of offsets to make up for 15 years of hard touring. But a swingy little bluegrass band from Los Angeles called The Ditty Bops is rocking the whole low-impact thing even harder by riding their entire 2006 tour on bicycles.

The Ford Motor Company came under attack in the blogging world last week, for seemingly trying to have its cake and eat it too - or, more accurately, for trying to emit its carbon and appear to be doing something to stop global warming. Back in April, Ford signed a deal with TerraPass, a carbon offset provider, to give Ford buyers a chance to offset their emissions by purchasing a TerraPass with their car. The trouble is, Ford is a contributor to the Competitive Enterprise Institute, which produced those ridiculous global warming denial ads that everyone's been up in arms over for weeks.

Even while we profess to care deeply about the climate changing, Americans don't seem to be raring to change their lifestyles much - especially when there's a long weekend at stake. Over 37 million people will take trips during the three-day Memorial Weekend of more than 50 miles. Those numbers are up from last year - high gas prices be damned. Nobody wants to be stuck at home on the first official weekend of summer, but people, please: spare a thought for your ecological impact.

There are lots of ways to reduce your carbon footprint, or the amount of greenhouse gas emissions you generate as a result of your daily life. Trade in your car for one with better gas mileage, for example. And walk, bike, or take public transportation whenever possible. But chances are you must drive sometimes - so one way to counterbalance the carbon emissions from burning gasoline is to help build renewable energy sources like wind farms.

Are you feeling pangs of guilt about your contribution to the growing climate crisis? Here are three easy, affordable things you can do to create your own Personal Kyoto