Green is the new color of love

You’ve already done flowers, and chocolate is so cliché. Expensive jewelry doesn’t fit into your budget right now, but you can still give something that will last a lifetime. Give the Valentine’s Gift of Green from BeGreenNow.com to plant 3 trees in the name of your sweetheart, and make your day together carbon neutral!

By purchasing BeGreen’s Valentine’s Gift of Green, lovers can offset one metric ton of carbon emissions by planting three trees. The Valentine’s Gift of Green helps the planet by offsetting the:

• Emissions created by driving to your favorite romantic spot,
• Electricity emissions used to power your evening; and
• Shipping of your chocolates and flowers around the planet.

The three trees will be planted in the Mendocino National Forest near San Francisco. This reforestation project is a partnership between BeGreen and American Forests to plant the seeds that will help reduce carbon in the air and keep this habitat thriving for species like the Northern Spotted Owl. Your purchase adds to over 125,000 trees planted by Green Mountain Energy, the parent company of BeGreen.

The Valentine’s Gift of Green can be purchased online now at www.BeGreenNow.com/valentines for only $9.95 per gift and includes a certificate that acknowledges the purchase of the carbon offsets that can be printed and presented to that special someone.

A Texas-sized Investment in Wind Energy

Texas’ Public Utilities Commission agreed recently to move forward with an ambitious plan to increase renewable energy transmission in the state. PUC officials ok’d the construction of huge transmission lines from the wind-rich western areas of Texas to the major metropolitan areas in the east. Texas is already the leading state in wind energy capacity, but these new transmission lines signify a serious commitment to ensuring that all that wind energy can get where it’s needed the most.

Estimates of the project range from $3.4 to $6 billion dollars, though many believe the investment in a clean energy future is well worth it. Wind farms have zero greenhouse gas emissions, making them a step in the right direction toward decreasing Texas’ electricity carbon footprint.

Even if you don’t live in as ‘windy’ a state, there are other ways you can personally reduce your carbon footprint: choosing electricity from cleaner sources, cutting down on carbon-intensive activities like driving and flying, and purchasing carbon offsets for those activities you can’t avoid. Carbon offsets are like your own personal investment in lower emitting sources, one you don’t have to wait for your state to do for you!

Teaching Kids Green Habits

Everyone has heard that children absorb information, languages, routines, and habits at a very high level. Most adults can attribute a good portion of their lifestyle to their early years and what they were exposed to at that time. By making kids aware of their carbon footprint, and teaching them about green healthy living and biodiversity, we can help raise a generation of environmentally sensitive people.

Creating a dialog with your children’s school about educating the students on recycling, composting, and the benefits of mass transit (the school bus is just about everyone’s first exposure to this) is a great place to extend your green principles. Also set up a community group for kids to get involved with local river or forest clean ups. This is first hand experience for kids to see the results of a mismanaged environment and how much can be done to improve it in a short period of time.

Carbon offsets are a great concept to expose them to as well. Teaching a child about reducing their consumption can be a chore, but by placing these building blocks in front of them at an early age it will enable them to understand just where their environmental waste goes and what they can do to offset their footprint.

Green Buildings – Bring Higher Rent

A recent study, Doing Well By Doing Good? Green Office Buildings, has shown that green buildings are paying off big, and not just by the carbon offsets measurement. They have higher occupancies rates, primarily due to the higher quality materials and architecture that has gone into making them, which is making them a profitable option for all sectors of development.

The carbon footprint of a building is much bigger than any individuals will ever be. Designing LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified buildings can greatly reduce this footprint which in turn reduces the resources needed to maintain the building. With design aspects that include natural lighting and energy efficient heating and cooling, building owners have been able to leverage these savings for both themselves and their occupants.

The study above has shown that green buildings are bringing in an average of 6% more rent than there non-green neighbors. Ask anyone in commercial real estate and they will tell you that 6% is an enormous margin and is well worth the processes of greening up an existing building or implementing them from the start for new construction.

Within the Sea of Green

A recent survey of U.S. consumers showed that spending on eco-friendly products will double over the next year. With this increase in spending, marketers are going to continue to push for a “green” image for their brands, but the truth behind many of these products may not be what it seems.

The term “greenwashing” refers to deceptive ads that paint a greener picture of one’s image, as compared to actuality. For consumers who are looking for a light green approach to things it may be hard to tell if a company is really living up to its claims of having a neutral carbon footprint. Concerned shoppers need to go beyond the messages they are hearing on TV and look into the practices of the company itself. Do they participate in comprehensive carbon offset, recycling, or community clean-up programs?

Organizations like the FTC are having a hard time keeping up with the growth and the environmentally friendly claims being made by some companies so it is up to the consumer to navigate the truth in most cases. There are many companies out there that are walking the walk, but within the expanding sea of green it takes a bit more insight to locate and support them.