Summer time! Travel time! Time for a trip! A nice long vacation! You deserve it!

Unfortunately, your big fun trip comes with a big ol’ carbon impact — even bigger than we previously thought, according to a new study. UGH, I know. I guess that means you’re in the market for a carbon offset, which ostensibly neutralizes that impact.

But what does a carbon offset actually do? Sometimes it grows a tree. Sometimes it lights a fire over a garbage dump. Life is full of mysteries, and we investigate all the ones pertinent to carbon offsets.