So you’re quietly sipping your gin and tonic before dinner is served, and the inflight crew comes by rolling the duty free cart with overpriced items.

You tend to ignore these as silly impulse purchases until… you hear the two key words: “carbon credits.”

This purchase is not for your significant other for whom you forgot to get a gift , but for your significant ego. If you fly, you’ll be happy to know that you’re one of those contributing to 8 million tonnes of CO2 a year.  So, for much less than a Rolex (about $50 dollars) you could buy yourself a carbon offset to make up for the carbon your Sydney-London flight dumps on the planet. Visa o Amex? Would you like a receipt printed on the remains of a rain forest with that?

Where? On Virgin Atlantic.

Of course this carbon offset marketing plan has some unflattering background. Airlines like Virgin Atlantic have been lobbying hard to stop an aviation environmental tax! So instead of passing on the tax you, and having to call it a carbon tax (hey, you already pay a hefty airport tax) calling it a ‘credit’ has a better ring to it.

Kaching!