How is the amount of offset calculated per link?

A portion of each link submitted is distributed.  Each different link level has a different contribution level. 

• Featured Links offset 100kg of CO2 monthly
• Regular Links offset 50kg of CO2 monthly
• Recipricol Links offset 25kg of CO2 monthly

How does the process of offsetting work for the directory?

On the last day of the month, a calculation of each link multiplied by the quantity of each type of link in the directory is taken.  For instance, the following diagram shows the calculation for the directory if it contains 20 featured links, 200 regular links, and 20 recipricol links.

• 20 featured @ 100kg = 2000kg
• 200 regular @ 50kg = 10000kg
• 20 recipricol @ 25kg = 500kg
• 2000+10000+500 = 12500kg

That's a net sum of 12,500kg of CO2 offset each and every month.

What's the benefit?

You get your link placed in our directory, whih is the first and foremost benefit.  But you also get a chance to help the environment doing something that you would do anyway.  By placing a link here, you are offsetting the amount of CO2 you are creating each and every day.   Each shared hosting website creates an average of 100kg of CO2 per year.  For premium links, you are offsetting one website's CO2 output for a year.  So essentially, over a year's time, you are offsetting the carbon footprint of 12 websites that are hosted on a shared server.

Will I be able to see my total contribution?

Unfortunately, there is no easy way of us doing this.  For this reason, we decided to calculate offsets monthly as a whole, instead of individual site contributions.  We do allow every link owner to place a "carbon neutral logo" on their website, to show their users that the website they are visiting is contributing to the welfare of the environment.