Tech News Update

Going Green” has turned into huge business for many. With the world consciousness becoming more aware of our destructive direction as a society, more businesses are turning to eco-friendly solutions to not only help the world, but also to help their reputation.

Many have gone so far as to use green incentives to enhance their product offerings. Regardless of the motive, the result is certainly something desired by more and more people every day. We, as consumers, will buy products because we need them, but the choice regarding the source of our products can often be swayed by green thinking. With that in mind, here are 10 companies who have attached sales of their products directly to the goal of planting more trees for a sustainable future. They range from computers to books, surf boards to shaving oil, with the one thing in common. They plant trees to help the environment. Lots of them.

Computers: Dell http://www.dell.com/

Their “Plant a Tree for Me” campaign allows consumers to add a tree to their shopping cart when making buys online. They range from a $1 contribution which offsets an Inkjet Printer to $99 which offsets person for 1 year.

Connectivity: IOGEAR http://www.iogear.com/

With their “Road to a Million Trees” campaign in partnership with Trees for the Future, IOGEAR will plant a tree for every product sold on IOGEAR.com or through an IOGEAR GREEN initiative partner, with a goal of planting one million trees. There is no additional cost associated with this program – if you buy one of their products, assume that an oak or cedar somewhere in the world will have your name figuratively on it.

Maternity T-Shirt: UnButtonedMaternity http://www.unbuttonedmaternity.com/

Plant a Tree Mommy – Pure T wants to build a forest: with the buy of this Tee one tree will be planted. The Tee itself is 100% organic supima cotton that uses eco-friendly vegetable dyes and a non-toxic printing process. “We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our Children.”

Surfboards: Loose Fit Surf Shop http://loose-fit.co.uk/

Loose Fit Surf Shop in North Devon, UK, is the first “carbon zero” surf shop. Their Surf and Trees Campaign helped them earn this. Surfers are known for their eco-friendly ways. It’s incredible that only one shop has made headlines by stepping up in this arena.

Boots: Blundstone http://www.blundstone.ca/

Reduce the size of your footprint, your carbon one, at least. Blundstone Footwear and Evergreen has an aptly named “Plant yourself in Blundstones. Plant a tree in Canada. ” campaign. Each pair of Blundstone boots sold in Canada will support Evergreen’s treeplanting and urban naturalization projects across the country.

Soap: JustNeem http://www.justneem.com/

This one is a small more complicated than most. The trees that they plant in Africa, the Neem Tree, do more than just help the environment. They also help the people in Africa for whom the trees are planted by giving them an income source from the raw materials provided by the tree. What do these raw materials help produce? Yep, it’s soap.

Shaving Oil: Pacific Shaving http://www.pacificshaving.com/

Pacific Shaving Company plants a tree for every bottle of shaving oil sold. They work with Trees for the Future to plant and restore trees to degraded lands and show communities in developing countries how to improve their rural livelihoods through the introduction of environmentally sustainable land management projects focused on beneficial tree planting. 

Strollers: Baby Rain Inc. http://www.carbonfund.org/site/more/carbonfree_partner/baby_rain_inc

BabyChecklist.com is offsetting its carbon emissions associated with the shipping of BabyChecklist.com and PamperedTot.com products through Carbonfund.org, while also planting a tree for every stroller buy.

Handbags: Ecoist http://www.ecoist.com/

Ecoist plants a tree for every handbag sold. They believe that by doing so, they can prove to their customers that they are serious about their commitment to preserving the environment and reducing global warming.

Books: Eco-Libris http://www.ecolibris.net/

Their motto: “Every book you read was once a tree. Now you can plant a tree for every book you read.” That just makes sense, so if you buy a book from them, they’ll plant a tree. Brilliant. About 20 Million trees are cut down annually for virgin paper used for the production of books sold in the U.S. alone. They make sure that the trees will be planted where they provide significant value for both the environment and the local communities, who are very much involved and play an vital part in the planting projects.