At Carbonfund.org, our motto is Reduce What You Can, Offset What You Can't. As we all do a bit of spring cleaning and prepare for Earth Day, I wanted to share some ways to reduce our energy consumption and help our planet.

1. Use solar garden lanterns instead of conventional lights to highlight your patio or garden - they can last for twenty years! For example, you can use promo code 10OffLampPosts to save 10% on solar lamp posts and get free shipping.
2. Consider a rain barrel for your side or back yard.  Rain barrels not only curb high water usage, but they decrease the amount of storm water runoff in city drains after heavy rains. Plus, they're stylish.
3. Plant a tree! Trees absorb carbon dioxide, control water runoff, and provide a great weekend activity for your family.  If you don't have space to plant a tree, or to make a donation to support our tree planting effort, please participate in our Million Tree Challenge.

This spring is a great time to celebrate the outdoors by keeping it beautiful, clean, and safe for future generations. Remember to Reduce What You Can, Offset What You Can't. Happy Spring!

As much of the East Coast recovers from a snowy winter, spring is actually right around the corner. To celebrate, let's take a look at some Carbonfund.org CarbonFree^® Partners that can help you kick off the spring season. Sharper Impressions Painting is a residential painting company that has been painting homes for over 18 years. They can brighten up your house and even do interior painting with low VOC paints. If the brutal winter weather has damaged your home's paint, or it's been 5-8 years since your home was last painted, consider Sharper Impressions Painting this spring. If you live in a dry climate where water conservation is important, consider NewGrass. NewGrass specializes in artificial grass for residential and commercial customers who have concerns over water, fertilizer, and gas-powered lawn equipment use. Considering that some lawns require 20,000 or more gallons of water a year, artificial grass can be a better choice for conservation! Add style to your lawn and cut your utility bills at the same time with Exterior Solar Lights. They feature a wide selection of solar lamp posts, garden accent lights, and solar deck lights. With free shipping on most orders and a great selection, Exterior Solar Lights is an affordable way to meet your outdoor lighting needs this spring. To save 10% on any solar lamp post, simply enter the promo code 10OffLampPosts during checkout. Let's all celebrate the coming of spring, seeing what CarbonFree® Partners have to offer. Don't forget to reduce the carbon emissions of your travel!

Sitka Technology Group is a leader in designing custom software packages for sustainability focused organizations.  In addition to offsetting their annual carbon footprint through participation in the CarbonFree® Partner program, Sitka focuses on helping governments and nonprofits with their environmental software needs.  With a strong belief that collaboration is vital to creating effective software, they help clients attain their sustainability objectives so that our communities can prosper. Their most recent project is a great example of how their award winning custom software excels at meeting their client's needs.  Their new web application gives the public unprecedented view into the workings of the largest fish and wildlife restoration program in the world. This interactive web 2.0 application, www.cbfish.org, makes it simple for anyone with computer access to map habitats and compile costs and results into easy-to-read charts. Users can zero in on specifics of thousands of fish and wildlife projects, from wetland restoration in the Columbia River estuary to screening of irrigation diversions in Idaho.

3 days til Valentine’s Day! For individuals who want to move towards a more environmentally friendly lifestyle, All Green Things provides practical products. In addition to the eco-friendly products they sell and reducing their carbon footprint in support of our carbon reduction projects, All Green Things has a great information center. It's a useful tool that can help you on the path to decreasing your carbon footprint. Their goal is to challenge their customers and supporters to embrace a green lifestyle, not only for yourself, but also for the environment. All Green Things has a goal to minimize its use of resources. They believe that consistent and deliberate action, however small, ultimately adds up to immense differences that reduce the negative effects on our environment. Also, currently All Green Things offers free shipping on orders of $75 or more; see their website for more details. Visit www.allgreenthings.com.

ClickShipNGo.com is an online provider of shipping management services for individual consumers and small businesses. Users can retrieve and compare freight quotes from competing carriers, schedule pickups and track shipments online, generate required paperwork, and manage their total shipping needs in an easy and affordable manner. Due to their large buying power, they pass the savings directly to their customers which would not be possible by going directly to the carrier.

In addition to offering an effective shipping management service, ClickShipNGo.com is a CarbonFree® Shipping Partner and makes a donation to Carbonfund.org for every package they ship to reduce, offset its carbon emissions.  If you need to ship a package, or own a business and are looking for an environmentally-friendly provider, choose ClickShipNGo.com.  Just by using their service, your package will not only be shipped at an affordable price, but it will generate a donation that supports third-party validated carbon reduction projects that fight climate change today.  You can visit their website at www.clickshipngo.com.

ShareASale is a unique CarbonFree® Partner and one of the leading affiliate marketing solutions available.  By connecting affiliates with the growing list of 2,500 merchants in the ShareASale network, they are providing award winning technology to both retailers and affiliates alike to drive sales and revenue.  ShareASale won ABestWeb's prestigious "Best Affiliate Network" award four years in a row and has garnered awards for "Best Affiliate Manager," "Best Service to the Industry," and "Best Affiliate Program." In addition to providing one of the most effective customer acquisition methods on the web, ShareASale is a strong supporter of Carbonfund.org.  Their donations are supporting third-party validated carbon reduction projects that are fighting global warming today.  Their continued support is the equivalent to offsetting the CO2 emissions from the electricity use of over 480 homes, the carbon sequestered annually by over 790 acres of pine forest, or the greenhouse gas emissions avoided by recycling over 1,200 tons of waste instead of sending it to a landfill.  ShareASale is making a real, measurable impact in the fight to stop climate change.  We encourage all individuals and businesses to take action today; offset your carbon footprint today!

Carbonfund.org Partner Go Green Tube is your one-stop destination for environmental and eco-friendly web videos. Go Green Tube boasts an enormous collection of videos that discuss green technologies, products, services, and environmental news. After you register, every video you watch generates a carbon reduction of one pound! Carbonfund.org super fan and activist Andrew Lasken created the video below. It's a fun explanation of carbon offsets and how they can help fight climate change. Enjoy!

As utility bills slowly increase, many families are looking for energy efficiency measures that can help them save money, reduce energy use, and fight climate change.  A good start on your path to sustainability is to buy a rain barrel for collecting rainwater.  Not only do they reduce your water bill and prevent sewer runoff, but many of them are highly decorative and will add a great look to your outdoor space.  CarbonFree^® Partner GardenSuperMart.com offers many rain barrels in different styles and sizes. If you're not ready for collecting rainwater, how about collecting your kitchen scraps and starting a composter?  GardenSuperMart.com recently introduced their new Terra Composter which matches their rain barrels and complements any backyard decorative theme.  GardenSuperMart.com owns its own manufacturing plant and ensures that recycling scraps are reused in the manufacturing process.  Also, they are committed to offsetting their corporate footprint annually, sourcing as much as possible locally, and recycling. Check out their website at GardenSuperMart.com to learn more about their environmental commitment, rain barrels, and composters.

Celebrate spring with a special promotion from CarbonFree® Partner Teas Etc.! Teas Etc. is an online retailer of premium loose leaf teas, herbs, and Rooibos. The company is USDA certified to package and distribute organic products and has a complete line of 100% organic teas. They are deeply committed to recycling efforts in their local area, utilize chemical-free cleaning products, and use biodegradable packing peanuts in their shipments. They offset their annual business emissions with Carbonfund.org and offer their customers the option of offsetting the shipping emissions of their order. Until Monday, March 22nd, Teas Etc. is offering 20% off everything with free shipping on any $60 order or more in the continental U.S. Additionally, they will plant a tree through Carbonfund.org's Million Tree Challenge campaign for each order! Simply use promo code SPRING during checkout. Visit Teas Etc. at www.teasetc.com. Carbonfund.org congratulates Teas Etc. for participating in our Million Tree Challenge campaign.  Together, we can plant one million trees and help fight global warming! You can learn more about the campaign here.

Skoobit is a great alternative to buying textbooks for cash-strapped college students.  Instead of buying books you only use once to sell back at a fraction of their original price, why not rent them instead for a huge discount?  Skoobit has an enormous inventory of textbooks and other college-level books that will meet the needs of your classes.  There's no limit on the number of textbooks you can rent and you can hold onto them for the entire semester. Not only can renting used books be better for the environment, Skoobit offsets every shipment of books that it sends out to its customers with Carbonfund.org.  It's better for your wallet and better for the environment.  But what happens if you decide you want to keep a book during your rental?  No problem!  Skoobit gives you the option of purchasing the book if you feel it will benefit you in the future. This semester you could save hundreds of dollars and rent textbooks with Skoobit.  The environment, and your bank account, will thank you.  Don't forget to offset your travel back to campus!