We do - "These Geeks"
@MagnetBoy - I would not say such things if I were you! We are actually a non-profit research group at UC Berkeley consisting of people who actually believe in living and encouraging low-carbon lifestyles. And we prefer to be called carbon fairies if you really must use nicknames (although to be honest, I don't think we're quite on that level with each other yet).
@HatesIdiots - We probably would say you can count the trees as a carbon offset for about 1 metric ton of CO2 per year (2205 lbs), but only for the ones you plant yourself.
However, any water and irrigation used on your property would increase your carbon footprint slightly due to the energy required to filter & pump water for residential use.
We still haven't added that one into our list of action on our carbon footprint calculator (coolclimate.berkeley.edu/carboncalculator) but the other actions there might give you a good frame of reference.
If you're still curious about our research feel free to e-mail me at miayamauchi@berkeley.edu.
Sincerely,
Mia Yamauchi
Outreach & Partnership Coordinator
Official Disliker of Anonymous Rudeness on the Internet
UC Berkeley Renewable & Appropriate Energy Laboratory
