Business Nonprofit CONNECTIONS just offset its carbon use for last year through TerraPass.  I learned about them through the Net Impact website.  (I am a member of Net Impact.) I used Terra Pass’ calculator to figure out how much CO2 we generated through our office, computer use, vehicles, air travel, and work lodging and paid a fee to offset the total.  When I was done, it generated a pdf report and it was easy to make payment, as well.  You should check this out and calculate yours, too.

From the TerraPass website, “Purchasing TerraPass offsets sends a strong message about your values to your employees, customers and stakeholders. People prefer to work with organizations they believe in. As one component of your environmental strategy, a TerraPass carbon offset program will provide your company with the unique ability to empower your customers and employees to take action on climate change.

Additionally, committing to purchasing carbon offsets for your business creates the right internal incentives to reduce your footprint over time. Each year, the conservation and efficiency measures that you implement will lower your carbon footprint, requiring you to purchase fewer offsets.”

Join me?

This morning, a new color Allstate advertisement in the Denver Post caught my eye.  Not only was it colorful,  two-thirds bright green and one-third brown…there was a plastic snowman near the top under the headline “Help keep him from defrosting.”  The ad introduces Allstate’s new car insurance option, Allstate Green.  As an incentive to get your business, the ad offers discounted pricing, electronic statements instead of paper…AND they will make a $30 donation when you sign up to carbonfund.org.  The ad then goes on to educate consumers that $30 is “about how much it costs to offset your car’s emissions for the entire year.”  While I am loyal to my own insurance company, this ad made me stop and think about switching.  If I was in the market for a new policy, I would certainly give them a call.

This ad is a great example of a company addressing the current environmental concerns of consumers to stay competitive.  Not only is the product itself designed to address a social issue, Allstate also includes consumer education in their ad AND they are engaging in cause marketing, giving back $30 for every new policy opened.  They have selected to partner for this promotion with carbonfund.org, a nonprofit organization whose tag line is “Reduce what you can, Offset what you can’t” - a great choice for Allstate given their mission and business model.  It would be counterproductive for Allstate to encourage consumers to get rid of their automobiles so promoting carbon offsetting makes sense for them.

This promotion will not only raise dollars to help carbonfund.org in their work but also will raise awareness among consumers that there is something called carbon offsetting and it is relatively cheap.  Many consumers will be intrigued by and perhaps drawn to Allstate as they start becoming known as an insurance company that is doing something to address pollution and environmental degredation, even though one of their main business products relates to automobile use, a cause of global warming.  

For more information, go to: http://www.allstate.com/green

This morning, a new color Allstate advertisement in the Denver Post caught my eye.  Not only was it colorful,  two-thirds bright green and one-third brown…there was a plastic snowman near the top under the headline “Help keep him from defrosting.”  The ad introduces Allstate’s new car insurance option, Allstate Green.  As an incentive to get your business, the ad offers discounted pricing, electronic statements instead of paper…AND they will make a $30 donation when you sign up to carbonfund.org.  The ad then goes on to educate consumers that $30 is “about how much it costs to offset your car’s emissions for the entire year.”  While I am loyal to my own insurance company, this ad made me stop and think about switching.  If I was in the market for a new policy, I would certainly give them a call.

This ad is a great example of a company addressing the current environmental concerns of consumers to stay competitive.  Not only is the product itself designed to address a social issue, Allstate also includes consumer education in their ad AND they are engaging in cause marketing, giving back $30 for every new policy opened.  They have selected to partner for this promotion with carbonfund.org, a nonprofit organization whose tag line is “Reduce what you can, Offset what you can’t” - a great choice for Allstate given their mission and business model.  It would be counterproductive for Allstate to encourage consumers to get rid of their automobiles so promoting carbon offsetting makes sense for them.

This promotion will not only raise dollars to help carbonfund.org in their work but also will raise awareness among consumers that there is something called carbon offsetting and it is relatively cheap.  Many consumers will be intrigued by and perhaps drawn to Allstate as they start becoming known as an insurance company that is doing something to address pollution and environmental degredation, even though one of their main business products relates to automobile use, a cause of global warming.  

For more information, go to: http://www.allstate.com/green