Green Options

The AIA is offering a great resource: 50 building design strategies to reduce fossil fuel use and move towards carbon neutrality.

As consumers become more jaded about claims of greenness, companies that care about communicating their sustainability activities are looking for ways to credibly stand out. When done thoughtfully, the marketing of carbon neutralizing offset programs can be an excellent way to get your point across.

The travel industry has been a big adopter in the marketing of carbon neutrality. Expedia.com gives consumers the option to purchase TerraPass carbon offsets for the carbon emissions of flights. Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car also provide similar options for car rentals. But these program are no-brainers as the consumer bears the cost of the offsets.

The newest generation of offsets marketing includes the integration of offsets into the product itself — no opt-in necessary and at no additional cost to the consumer. This new wave of marketing often involves on-packaging communication of the company’s offset programs and there are a few standouts. Bloomsberry & Co. has partnered with TerraPass to create Climate Change Chocolate, an incredibly tasty chocolate bar that includes in the price of every bar 133 lbs of verified TerraPass carbon offsets (133 lbs being the average American’s daily carbon impact.)