In Honor of Honest Abe and George W. (the first)

We think whoever invented President's Day is a genius…What's better than a long weekend right in the middle of the winter to ski, sun or see old friends...the only problem is that all that weekend jet-setting can wreak havoc on the environment. Whether you're flying to the other side of the country, or just driving your SUV up to the local mountain, here is a way to offset your guilty conscience without giving up the precious vacay time….

Meet Terra Pass, an amazing offsetting program that can help you reduce your carbon footprint all the way to zero. Basically, you go to their site and using their prompts, type in what kind of travel you will be doing (flying or driving?) and what cities you're traveling between. They calculate the donation it will take to offset (balance out) your CO2 emissions, and then invest your donation in green energies. (Terra Pass has a strict verification process to make sure they money is being used to make actual environmental change.)

For example, Jess (in L.A.) absolutely HAS to fly to Toronto, Canada this weekend for a wedding (oh the late 20's, so many weddings…). When she typed her travel info into Terra Pass (which literally took less than 5 seconds--such an easy site to use!), they told her that her round trip of 4,361 miles was the equivalent of 1,701 lbs. of CO2. How could she offset that? Terra Pass recommended she buy $9.95 "Puddle Jumper" which balances out 2,500 lbs of CO2. So, for less than it costs to see a movie, Jess can now enjoy her friend's wedding, eco-guilt free. And the money she donated went to projects that offset C02, such as wind energyand industrial efficiency programs.

And even if you're too cool for commercial travel and you love your PJ (private jet, duh), Terra Pass can design a custom offset for your jet travel, too. Contact aviation@terrapass.com or (877) 270-1122. (But P.S., did you know that one hour in a Gulfstream GV burns about as much fuel as one year of driving? Can’t you just slum it in first class?)

And once Prez Day is over and you're left to deal with your gotta-get-out-of-town-itis til Memorial Day, you can STILL use Terra Pass. Whether it's your daily car-usage, the hydrangeas you had to fly across the globe to have in your winter wedding, or the emissions you produce in your own home, Terra Pass has options to offset the carbon emissions your lifestyle produces.

So, go ahead, sing it with us now…Vacation all I ever wanted, Vacation have to get away…


P.S. Happy Valentine's Day! Don't give your love flowers drenched in chemicals! Buy organic roses...click HERE for more info why buying organic flowers is better....

or

Give that special someone a Terra Pass Gift Certificate. Brilliant!

Sweet Charity Gift Guide

Ok Team the holiday season is def underway which you probably noticed the day after Thanksgiving when your local starbucks transformed into a “magical” winter wonderland and started peddling gingerbread lattes instead of pumpkin caramel macchiato. We really got worried when the local outdoor mall that looks like a fake movie set started blowing bubbles in our face and calling it snow. Or maybe that’s just here in LA, but never the less if you need last minute gift ideas you are in luck! We found some fab charities that you can donate to in the name of your loved ones instead of continuing the meaningless commercial cycle of mindless giving.

Perfect for the green gal or guy on the go, check out these express gift option sites:

Offset Gifts

Tickle Me Elmo, IPods and Playstations are a thing of the past. Kids these days are clamoring for… carbon emission offsets! And you don’t have to campout overnight or Give your family or coworkers the gift of offsetting their carbon emissions and their impact on global warming for the coming year.

But, uh, what the heck is a Carbon Offsetting?

A carbon offset zeros out (offsets) all or part of the carbon dioxide emissions of a party, by reducing the emissions -- or increasing the carbon dioxide absorption -- of another party. This reduces net greenhouse gas emissions with the aim of combating global warming. Effectively offsetting the emissions of an activity makes that activity "carbon neutral". (wikipedia.org)

http://www.carbonneutral.com/
Give someone the gift of a clean green conscience for the year. You can pay to erase someone’s yearly carbon imprint for their car, their home or their air travel. Your donations are invested into companies who support green energy. Or dedicate a tree in their name which helps neutralize our energy use (remember trees clean the air of co2). This company is well funded and structured; this is no back yard tree planting operation. They ensure your tree will be forested for at least 99 years. What a lovely gift for someone’s first holiday! For green baby gift seekers, check out this package: they receive two trees in their name and a little pair of monkey booties. Awwww…

http://www.nativeenergy.com/
“With Native Energy, you can help finance and build new clean and renewable energy projects that help Native Americans and Alaska Natives create sustainable economic benefits, and that help America’s family farmers compete with agribusiness. These projects will displace electricity from fossil fuels and reduce other greenhouse gas emissions on your behalf, making up for the CO₂ emissions you can’t avoid.” Can’t argue with that, eh.

CarbonFund.org
This site has a fantastic calculator to figure out your personal carbon “footprint” and then give money to offset your impact.

TerraPass.com
Yet another great site to offset your home, vehicle or flight emissions for the year. Yeah, offsetting!!!!

Trees for the Future

Give 450 trees in someone’s name for $45 dollars. Lovely. Remember it takes four trees to offset one persons CO2 emissions for one month. So for $45 dollars you are offsetting your brother’s/grandma’s/pet pup’s carbon emissions for 9 whole years. Sounds economical to us.

Magazines

Ok, so this isn’t the US Magazine subscription you may have secretly been hoping your roommate would get you, but the upside is you can actually read these in public without being judged.

Greenlight Magazine

We all love to get magazine subscriptions for gifts, check out greenlight. Their mission is curiously like ours; “…greenlight is a magazine for the ordinary person who wants to live well but also contribute to improving the state of the planet. This person doesn’t have a lot of time to investigate what’s good and what’s not. greenlight will let readers know how to make better decisions in their purchases and activities.” We may have to challenge them to a duel.

Good Magazine (**high gloss alert**)

This magazine is as chic as Dwell and has the street creed of Vice. If you like AdBusters you will flip for Good. This mag is for people like you, dear readers, people who “give a damn.” Link to their mission statement for the more eloquent version. When you buy a subscription to this magazine, they donate 100% of your money to a charity of your choice. The greeny options for donations are Oceana and World Wildlife Fund.

Environmental Sustainability

Oxfam - www.oxfamamericaunwrapped.com

Ultra “save the world” gifters, this is your mothership. Give a village a cow for $75 or plant a garden for $115 all in the name of your loved ones.

The Heifer Foundation - http://beta.blogger.com/www.heifer.org

Give a honey bee hive to a family for $30. Your family supplements their income by selling the honey and wax and they get to make really good peanut butter and honey sandwiches. The bee’s pollination can double the fruit and vegetable yield of the surrounding area which helps the entire village thrive. Click Here for Heifer Foundation's Express Giving Link.

Church World Services

For only $15 you can give a family seeds and tools to plant a garden. Or donate to a portion of a deep water well that provides a village with water in times of drought.

World Wildlife Fund

Forget about a pony, you know you’ve always wanted a long distance pet polar bear or a cute little pygmy elephant. Adopt an endangered animal for as low as $25 dollars

P.S. If you don’t know how these endangered animals relate to global warming, call a family member in 3rd or 4^th grade for an explanation.

Oceana

71% of the earth is covered in ocean so we need to keep it healthy and clean. That’s right, those kids from your middle school in tie-dyed shirts had it right all along: Save the Whales! Adopt a dolphin, whale or shark by donating to this site.

Lydia’s personal Charity Giving Recs

If you’re more of a humanitarian than a “greeny”, we won’t be picky about your choice for charity. Both of these two wonderful organizations are run by members of my family or close family friends. So you can rest assured your money is being put to good use.

http://www.manassehschildren.org/

My dad’ best friend, Dr. Jake Sinclair and his wife Lee, founded this charity in Africa. Mannesh's Children helps street children who have lost their parents to AIDS find safe homes with a family. Help stop the cycle of poverty and AIDS in Africa by doing more than wearing a trendy white rubber band.

Ama Ghar (Motherly Home) - http://www.ama-foundation.org/

My dad’s cousin Bonnie Ellison runs this orphanage in Nepal; they have 36 orphans who receive phenomenal care and education. I visited them in 2004 and was so blessed to have met these wonderful children. $500 supports one child for an entire year!

Lyd and Jenuka Check out the other cuties here.

Thanks to all our green readers who contributed suggestions for this post, please continue to post comments to the blog or email us with thoughts and opinions

Happy Holidays from the team at Green is the New Pink!