Getting ready for trip to Paris tomorrow. If I was pure green, I would not fly, but lets face it, I need a France fix once in a while. A more realistic option, would be to buy carbon offsets. The question I need to ask myself is, why didn’t I bother looking into it earlier. The answer is, . . . actually there are several answers: 1) I did not think of it, 2) It costs money, 3) It takes time and effort to research.
In the end, it boils down to, what do I really value? Talk is cheap, and I do plenty of it. Making changes and active contributions is a lot harder, a lot harder.
another thing to consider: where does the money actually go? I’ve heard some rumours that make me think it might be better to just donate to a local charity.
Using TerraPass is pretty easy, and even easier on Expedia. It’s basically an exchange program–I’ve used it and while it adds 5 bucks or so to the price of the ticket I feel like I’ve at least made a dent in the carbon footprint of my biz lifestyle. Also, Terrapass is completely trackable and above board in the organizations it contributes to…I know it seems like it could be a fake so easily but it’s got a lot of eyes watching what it does. check it out here: http://www.terrapass.com/
another moment of envy …green with if I might say – I have never been to Paris and have always wanted to go
consider this carbon calculator and tree planting opportunity – I use it all the time to offset my personal and familial environmental sins … very user friendly and something you can do along with your taxes ( that is actually when I calculate) or something you can do per occasion. It is said we each could plant 10 trees yearly – I tend to plant 10 for each person in my family and a several more for good measure – it’s NOT expensive and this site makes it easy to do all in one place.
http://www.americanforests.org/campaigns/shaklee/
I am traveling myself in August – blessed be that my company takes on and offsets the travel of all it’s 15,000 PLUS attendees – another reason I work for a ” walk the talk ” kindof company
enjoy your travels – your beloved Paris and be wonderfully safe
Cass, Mother Earth,
Thanks for the info. I will look into both, next time I travel distances.