If there is one thing that my team at the Marion Institute hears over and over from me it’s “lets walk our talk”. I believe that we need to authentically be the change we wish to see and advocate for this change through example.
So I, along with many of my teammates, am striving towards a more sustainable life-style. While writing this piece, my car is parked in my driveway at home as this is my “work from home day” and my rule is to not drive at least one day a week. I also try to carpool, use the train, take reusable bags, mugs, cutlery and to-go containers wherever I go, re-ware my clothes until they smell;), eat local, healthy, organic food (this is where having an organic farmer for a boyfriend comes in handy- I highly suggest it;) and the list goes on and on truly.
Enter the dilemma…
As the executive director for the Marion Institute I have responsibilities (that I love I may add) and one of those responsibilities is to empower people on the ground in many different places around the globe and although I do most of this via skype, email, phone, social networking – every now and again I need to be there in person.
Now this is a huge privilege and one that I am extremely grateful for but with that comes a huge amount of sustainability laden guilt (I am 1/2 Irish- it comes with the territory;) And I have dragged my feet on this travel for years but now I have a truly all-star team on the ground in Marion and thus it’s time for me to take flight and have a physical presence at some of our programs around the world. But I know that my travel seriously increases my carbon footprint and impact on the world, right when, literally every day, we are seeing more and more impact around the world from our actions as humans.
Enter the solution…
And now with the $7 Gaviotas Carbon Offset Diet I can alleviate my guilt by offsetting my carbon for an entire year AND still strive to live a more sustainable lifestyle. And to all the people out there who are like myself- this does not give me a free pass to go out and consume blindly and jet-set around the world – it is part of a solution not the entire solution….but I will tell you it does feel good to lose 12 tons of carbon!!
How it works…
Gaviotas, an eco village in Colombia, continuously plants trees to offset your “carbon footprint” (i.e the amount of carbon you set off by using electricity, gas, driving, etc.). Las Gaviotas has 144,000 tons of carbon offsets to offer on an annual basis. This tonnage of annual carbon sequestration is calculated using formulas developed in response to the Kyoto Treaty on Global Warming.
The 8,000 hectares of existing maturing tropical rain forest is the source for this annual tonnage of carbon offsets. This means we all have the chance to offset our carbon footprint and trust me, as Americans, we have a lot of carbon weight to lose.
So click here, and lose a ton of carbon for just $7!
Or maybe you want to do what I am doing and lose a ton per month for 2011 – let me tell you, I feel better already.
