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).