all the small things

It's great that, in the course of my normal day, I happily discover an opportunity to do a little something for the environment, all the while sitting at my computer. This morning I purchased tickets for the 9:30 club through www.ticketstoday.com, and was overjoyed to find not one, but TWO environment related incentives, both voluntary and both so very easy!

Here's the message that popped up on the Main calendar of events page:


**TREE FOR EVERY TICKET PROGRAM** For every ticket that is purchased through this presale, Xavier Rudd and Musictoday will plant a tree in some of the neediest tropical areas of the world. As a fan, you can make a difference simply by buying tickets through Xavier Rudd during the purchase process. Thank you for your support!


And then a couple pages deep into the ticket purchase process, you find this message:

Help the environment - Offset your CO2 emissions on the way to the show!When you drive your car to an event, it emits harmful doses of CO2 that pollute our environment and promote global warming. By helping fund the purchase of renewable energy sources you can offset this pollution. To do so simply check the text box to the right and your credit card will automatically be deducted .40 cents (USD). All proceeds go to Native Energy and will be used to purchase renewable energy sources. To learn more visit www.nativeenergy.com.

So in one checkcard transaction, I planted two trees and paid 40 cents toward reducing carbon emissions for one night. I LOVE programs that cater to the lazy (ie, me) and make it easy to donate and show support for conservation and environmental efforts in the course of everyday transactions. I would've bought the tickets anyway but I feel far less ripped off by the sur-charge if I know part of it is going to help plant trees and offset carbon emissions, than when ticketmaster pockets the whole of it. Take THAT (hi-yah!) ticketmaster!

FYI, NativeEnergy is a privately held Native American energy company dedicated to the expansion and education of renewable energy projects nationwide. They have partnered with many programs, corporations and (most importantly imo) musicians on tour to educate the public on the social, economical, and environmental benefits of renewable energy. Their website makes it simple to calculate your own carbon footprint and what you can do to reduce it or pay it back to the environment through donations to renewable energy projects.

Many Native American tribes once held vast oil and gas lease agreements with domestic oil companies giving them permission to drill on reservation property for a cut of the profits. Yet, here we see a group of Native Americans trying to do the exact opposite, and in fact are among those leaders who are spearheading the effort to stop abusing our environment and steer us back to the long held traditional Native American values of respecting the earth.

I'm deducing that at least a part of this all came about because the Native Americans, like the rest of the whole flippin' WORLD, got fleeced by the oil companies. So another good reason to support NativeEnergy: to NOT support oil.