Many organizations with good intent and survive on donations end up astray - see Red Cross and Haiti.
Donating money to some organization that claims they will plant trees to offset some amount of greenhouse gas emissions is a lot like trusting the American Red Cross to build houses and schools after a disaster. You're hoping they do what they promise (and instead of doing that, the American Red Cross billed majority of the donations as "Administrative Fees"[1]).
So, in reality you may or may not be "cleaning up after yourself". Actually, you're not cleaning up after yourself... you're outsourcing that job (and don't actually care if it gets done) so you can feel free to release more greenhouse gases.
Though donating to it isn't a substitute for donations to the American Red Cross for disaster relief purposes. The ICRC specifically deals with armed conflict.
For disaster relief you'll have to find another reputable charity.
This is not true. The Red Cross in my country, which is an ICRC affiliate, does provide disaster relief. As far as I can tell, this is true across the board.
Are you arguing that all donations are pointless because you can't know for a fact exactly what your particular dollars are spent on? If you just meant "not all nonprofits are perfect, make sure you do your research", I think that's common sense that doesn't really need to be said here.
If your claim is that Cool Effect is BS, then do you have some evidence other than some whatabouts?
If you could show that Cool Effect is BS and there was an alternative that really does offset the emissions, I'd bet these folks would be all for switching.
Donating money to some organization that claims they will plant trees to offset some amount of greenhouse gas emissions is a lot like trusting the American Red Cross to build houses and schools after a disaster. You're hoping they do what they promise (and instead of doing that, the American Red Cross billed majority of the donations as "Administrative Fees"[1]).
So, in reality you may or may not be "cleaning up after yourself". Actually, you're not cleaning up after yourself... you're outsourcing that job (and don't actually care if it gets done) so you can feel free to release more greenhouse gases.
[1] https://www.npr.org/2015/06/03/411524156/in-search-of-the-re...