Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal had an interesting article called, “Take My Emissions, Please,” reviewing the various ways consumers can offset their energy use. This growing trend is interesting to me especially as marketers offer customers the option of paying more for offsets:
- Expedia.com and Travelocity.com teamed up with outside companies to let customers pay extra to offset their travel emissions.
- On SkiGreen.org, visitors can buy “green tags” to offset ski trips.
- AT&T donates 50 cents to the National Arbor Day Foundation for customers who choose to receive online statements.
- Dell will plant trees for consumers who pay $2 per notebook or $6 per PC to neutralize their carbon footprints.
- Cliff Bar sells $2 “Cool Tags,” each of which offsets 200 miles worth of driving (which, they acknowledge, is not a major contribution)!
With the average US citizen emitting 21 tons of carbon dioxide per year (versus the global per capita average of 4.5), we have a long way to go before achieving emissions neutrality. According to a study by Tufts University, a full grown tree can only absorb three to 15 pounds of carbon dioxide per year. Clearly, we better start planting a lot of trees and begin figuring out what we can do as individuals to cut down our emissions (see earlier post on energy-saving lightbulbs as one easy example).
Marketers can definitely be on the forefront of this emerging movement. Not only can they offer customers the chance to neutralize emissions as a new form of “gift with purchase,” but they also can encourage their companies to find a myriad of ways to improve the eco-friendliness of their entire supply/distribution chain. This in turn will give them more to talk about with their customers. Sounds like Marketing for Good to me.