A friend just emailed me today looking for some advice to offset his long commute that is required every day for his job.  He cannot switch cars and thus is looking for some ways to feel better about polluting the earth 5 days a week. He also just had another kiddo- agh, the diaper build up just kills your conscience.

Here is what I offered up:
I would say- think holistically…not just your commute- but your house/office and way you live your life–these things do a lot of offset (mentally and otherwise)…

So to that note- much of which you already do/know:
-CFLS in as much of your house as possible
-Recycled toilet paper/paper towels
-Compost (if your town takes it as yard waste even better and much easier)
-Wax paper bags for your kid’s lunch or even better: http://www.laptoplunches.com/
-Consider:Nature baby care diapers for your new baby
-Stock up on a bunch of reusuable snack bags, lunch bags, Klean Kanteens etc
-Spend some time on this site: http://earth911.com/
-Black and Decker’s energy saver series: for your home
-Google’s power meter: again for your home or office
-Power strips throughout your house – turn them off at night

-Consider offsetting your computer: www.littlegreengenie.com
-Rainbarrels in your yard to collect rain water to water yard
-Grow your own veggies next spring/summer- we’ve been amazed at our yield this year!

And in terms of Carbon Offsets- I don’t know how much I really believe in them other than somewhat symbolically… We did you Terra Pass for a while and of course there is Carbonfund.org (both of which you can also use to offset plane flights)
Finally, here is a guide I found that assesses various carbon offsetting programs.

Anyone have other short cuts to getting greener, feel free to comment.