Survey: Are Carbon Offsets a Good Wedding Present?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto 
on 10. 9.08
Graham Hill asked this in a post but we now put it into a survey: On his recent trip, Lori Majewski of dosomething.org discussed a quandary she had found herself in. A well to-do friend was to be married and owned a private jet. She needed to buy him a wedding gift and was considering carbon offsets for his plane.
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I think it depends on the friend. Traditionally, wedding gifts are given to a new couple so that they can set up their household - carbon offsets don't really help with that.
However, if they already have their household, they intend to fly quite a bit, and they are environmentally conscious, then carbon offsets in an envelope tied to a bottle of nice champagne/wine.scotch/etc - not a bad gift.
In general, though, you would never give someone a gift which they would not appreciate.
The offsets could be a good idea here if they aren't thought of as offsets. Maybe they could be thought of as a contribution to green causes with the added benefit of a dig directly at a friends ignorance and arrogance.
Only if either they they asked for it, or if you discussed it with them first. Otherwise it can be seen as a slap in the face (telling them they aren't green enough for you), or as a license to pollute, or as a gesture with no meaning. It really depends on who the other person is.
If a couple is "super green" or if they are so rich that as newlyweds they don't need the basics like a blender or money. The average couple could use something more practical, but that doesn't mean that it can't be a green gift.
I'm afraid that offsets could be potentially offencive. It's like getting a protective helmet for your "special" friend.
Maybe better idea would be getting them a solar panel. Or something similar - a renewable energy system that they can start adding on later.
Maybe that would get them on track and guide to a greener path. In time they will abandon their jet anyway.
The old saying "Never feel sorry for a man who has his own airplane" was probably coined before anyone had ever heard of peak oil...
Given that this friend "owns a private jet"--unless said jet is somehow owned/used for business purposes, it seems unlikely the friend thinks much about its environmental impact. Giving offsets--and particularly as a wedding gift--seems to me like it could only come off as a particularly holier-than-thou rebuke... like showing up with Nicorette after somebody's invited you to test-drive selections from his Cuban cigar collection.
I'm with Raja here--you can still give an enviro-themed present, just don't spin it as offsets (which, as the poll notes, may be of questionable benefit anyway).
According to my view if you have newly found your interest in cigar then getting right taste may be bit tougher task for you. When new cigars arrive, take a good look at them. Two things to look out for at this point: excessive dryness; excessive moistness. Another thing to keep in mind: if you’re keeping your cigars in the humidor over a long period, it makes a lot of sense to rotate them every few months. There is a myth about flavor amongst layman that every Cuban Cigars uses same tobacco and hence has same flavor. However, the reality is perfectly different. There is a broad variety of tobacco and its flavor as well you can gain adequate information about connoisseur of fine cigar from your nearest cigar shop. It does not matter whether the shopkeeper smokes or not.