Offset those Green Travel Giveaways, Please

Ecobunga! screens every promotion before we post it on our website to ensure it's bonafide green.  When it comes to giveaways, many are no-brainers.  Prizes like a year's supply of eco-friendly cleaning supplies, new energy-efficient appliances, or a hybrid car are clearly green.

But other promotions fall in that gray-green area. Travel giveaways are a case in point.  We often see companies giving away super trips with an obvious sustainable angle.  Stonyfield Farm gave away a trip to Vermont to see their organic farming operation in action.  The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund is giving away a trek in Rwanda to see mountain gorillas and meet the conservationists protecting them.  Both are wonderful prizes, but it's challenging to consider them thoroughly green due to the not-so-eco-friendly air travel to New England or far-away Africa.

We're not advocating that companies stop giving away sustainably-oriented travel prizes, or, to the extreme, people stop flying!  But it would be great to see companies include a carbon offset as part of the prize in recognition of the un-green air travel component.   It would barely add to the cost of the prize.  At one carbon offset company, TerraPass, a one year's flying carbon offset costs just $50. 

The Carbon Catalog has a list of current carbon offset companies worldwide.  We strongly urge companies to take a look at this list and add a carbon offset to your eco-travel prize package.  It'll move your giveaway out of the gray and into the green!