April 20, 2026
5 tons of carbon offsets. 25,000 gallons of water restored. We did that!
When I started Clean My Robot, I wanted the company to do more than make a clever point. I wanted it to actually move money into environmental projects and show the work in public. So this is our first proof point: we’ve officially purchased our first batch of offsets!!
For this first batch, we purchased 5 metric tons of carbon offsets through Tradewater US - ODS - #10 project and 25,000 gallons of water restoration through Bonneville Environmental Foundation’s Water Restoration Certificates® across five different projects. On the carbon side, the Tradewater project is listed under the American Carbon Registry as ACR1124, uses the Destruction of Ozone Depleting Substances and High-GWP Foam Version 2.0 methodology, and is classified as an avoided-emissions project. The project site is in East Liverpool, Ohio, and its attributes were independently validated and verified by Dillon Consulting Limited.
On the water side, we purchased 25 Water Restoration Certificates, which equals 25,000 gallons of water improved or restored to benefit people and nature. BEF states that 1 WRC = 1,000 gallons, and that its WRC projects are third-party verified and tracked through its portfolio approach.
The five water projects included in this first purchase are:
I chose this mix intentionally.
For carbon, I wanted our first purchase to support a project with a clear, measurable mechanism. Tradewater’s ODS project destroys legacy refrigerants that would otherwise remain at risk of leaking or being vented. In the project’s third-party verification report, Dillon states that the reporting period for Tradewater US - ODS - #10 resulted in 198,196 tonnes CO2e in reported greenhouse-gas reductions. Our purchase is only a tiny slice of that project, but it supports a type of intervention that is direct, quantifiable, and independently reviewed. And I'll be honest, I tried to get more projects through the system but most of the companies I reached out to didn't respond to my emails.
For water, the set up way way more conducive to distributed our contributions across several regions. So this first purchase spreads support across five BEF-administered water restoration projects, from California wetlands to Texas rivers to Arizona irrigation upgrades. BEF describes its portfolio as supporting projects that restore flows, restore natural systems, and improve efficiency. The water restoration credits will run on a quarterly retirement cycle and the carbon ones should be retired monthly.
I think it's worth noting, buying offsets does not erase the environmental footprint of AI. It does not let policymakers, data center operators, or model companies off the hook. And it does not turn resource-intensive technology into something impact-free. What it does do is create a way for people to take some responsibility for the mess instead of pretending the mess is invisible.
That’s the heart of Clean My Robot.
AI can be incredibly useful. I use it. A lot of people do. But the infrastructure behind it is physical: electricity, cooling, water, hardware, land. Clean My Robot exists for people who want to keep participating in that future without acting like there’s nothing to clean up.
This purchase is our first public receipt.
And it won’t be our last.
Going forward, I plan to keep publishing the projects we fund, the standards behind them, and the proof that purchases were actually made. Transparency is part of the product. If this company is going to ask people to trust it, that trust should be earned in public.
Thanks for being here at the beginning <3
-- Cristian