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Give Your Grad a Carbon Clean Slate!
What do you get the globally conscious grad who has everything?
If you're looking for something unique, you're probably stalling out somewhere between the hemp sandals and the solar-powered backpacks. We have the answer.
These kind of gifts offer dubious ecological benefits and a fleeting trendiness. That solar backpack, for instance, used only occasionally, might need to be worn for decades simply to balance out the energy and materials used to make it -- and do you really think solar backpacks will be cool next year, much less next decade?
And most green gifts are pretty meaningless, because little steps alone don't lead to sustainability. This is especially true for the lifestyle choices young people can make themselves. We often tell kids to start by screwing in a compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL), since they are dramatically more efficient than regular bulbs. But our lives are so ecologically damaging that Tom Arnold at TerraPass has figured out that to balance out the climate emissions from just one average American kid's Little League season, that kid would have to swap out ten bulbs. That doesn't even begin to count the food that kid eats, the house he or she sleeps in, the school he or she attends, the toys and clothes he or she buys... it's pretty obvious that most kids are going to run out of light bulbs to replace long before they reach sustainability.
The real answers to our problems, as we've said before, all lie in changing the underlying systems in our economy. Until political change is sold at the checkout counter, though, the best socially conscious gifts you can give are the ones that actually change the world directly in meaningful amounts.
That's why this graduation season, Worldchanging is proud to offer its major donors appreciation gifts that really make a difference: our Carbon Clean Slate certificates.
Growing up, few kids have the power to transform their surroundings into a bright green life. That power generally only comes as one grows older. That doesn't mean that kids don't recognize (and feel guilty about) the ways in which their lives have helped make climate change and other planetary problems worse.
Our Carbon Clean Slate gifts lift that guilt by offsetting their childhoods. They can go forward in life knowing that their emissions have been balanced by your gift, and they are free to make their own way in the world, unhampered by the past.
How it works: for every major donation above certain levels, Worldchanging will buy a major carbon offset in the name of your favorite graduate.
For $6,000, we'll offset all the climate emissions that grad racked up until he or she graduated from high school;
For $7,500, we'll offset their childhoods and their university years;
For $25,000, we'll offset their youth, college and working careers.
The offsets themselves will come from TerraPass, the gold standard company in carbon offsets. TerraPass uses independent verification (including a complete voluntary independent audit), direct sourcing of their offsets (so they know they're for real) and immediate investment (to create offsets now not later)... as well as offering full transparency about their projects. You can't find a better offsetting program than theirs.
Your grad will get a handsome certificate announcing that their slate's been wiped clean, climate-wise, along with a personalized note and a copy of the Worldchanging book. You get the satisfaction of knowing that you've made a real, demonstrable difference and honored the graduate's commitment to changing the world.
Everyone wins: Your grad gets to head out into the world with the moral weight of their personal choices lifted from their shoulders, you get to show your love and respect, the climate gets a bit of a break and Worldchanging gets the funds we need to continue our prize-winning work exploring the solutions that will create real, lasting change. Half your gift is even tax-deductible!
To buy, or to simply make a donation to support our work, please click here.
Worldchanging's Carbon Clean Slate: Because there's no better present than a better future.
Help us change the world - DONATE NOW!
(Posted by WorldChanging Team in Features at 12:23 PM)
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