BuyforEarth Update

An Open Invitation to Organizations that Support the Earth

2008-08-11T09:32:00.007-05:00

Our Mission:
Our Mission at BuyforEarth.com is to provide funding for projects, products and entities that are actively pursuing the betterment of the Environment through Greenhouse Gas Reductions, Renewable Energy Projects and non-profit organizations.

In order to support our mission we attract concerned shoppers to make purchases through the BuyforEarth.com mall of over 250 stores (and growing). When they make a purchase, we receive commissions based on their purchases and allocate an astounding 95% (compare to 50-60%) of the commissions received to support the earth. We have committed to allow our members to allocate the funds that they create to the project of their choice that has listed with BuyforEarth.com. We are currently focused on building our list of projects/products/organizations which will make BuyforEarth.com a more attractive choice for prospective members.

The Invitation:
Our business model includes a listing fee to be included in the choices for our members. This listing fee is a nominal charge that supports the maintenance and marketing activities of BuyforEarth.com. We guarantee a level of support that covers the listing fee for the first year. Currently we are accepting listings that will begin now, but will expire on December 31, 2009. After the end of this year listings will be for a one year period.

For a limited time, we are offering to waive the listing fee, through December 31, 2009. This offer will be available for a limited time and will end for each category of listing when we determine that adequate choices are available to our members. Your request to list will still be evaluated against our criteria and if your product/project/organization is listed. You will pay nothing to be listed. In order to qualify for the waiver and be listed, you must agree to place a banner link or text link on your site, inviting your supporters/customers to do more when they shop online at BuyforEarth.com. We will customize the link to match your site's style, content and offering.

Even though we are waiving the listing fee, we are continuing the referral bonus program. When your site visitors follow the link, join BuyforEarth.com and make their first purchase, you will 'earn' additional support in the form of donations or purchases. BuyforEarth.com will commit 2 Points, paid for through our profits (not the member's earnings) to additional support or listed product purchases.

When you list your project at BuyforEarth.com we also provide links to your project, a discussion board on our community that allows you to share more about your project with our members and respond to questions about your project with our members. As BuyforEarth.com grows, we believe this will be a great resource for understanding our collective cause.

Learn More and Request Your Listing Today:

To summarize, if you accept our invitation and place a link on your page, you will pay no listing fee until January of 2010. Your supporters' purchases will allow them to increase their level of support to your project/product/organization. Your referrals to BuyforEarth.com that join and make their first purchase will add to your sales/contributions through our referral bonus program.

You can learn more about BuyforEarth.com by visiting our site at www.BuyforEarth.com. Get the details of the listing program at www.BuyforEarth.com/bfeproject.aspx and request your listing at www.BuyforEarth.com/bfeprojectlist.aspx.

We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Please share this invitation with your favorite projects/providers/organizations or others you know that would benefit from a FREE! listing on BuyforEarth.com.

More Reasons to BuyforEarth.com

2008-08-06T21:09:00.005-05:00

We have been busy at BuyforEarth.com.

We have implemented new functionality that we are excited about, because it will make BuyforEarth.com a better place for our members to find the best deal on stuff they buy, discuss products and deals that they have found. Learn about and discuss the projects that they can support with the points they earn.

We launched our new community site, BuyforEarth.com Network!

You can visit and check it out. CLICK HERE.

While you are there, be sure to check out our other new addition...

We have laid out the Plans for a new 'Project' that will let you invest up to half of your earnings in your own future, while you are investing in the Earth's future.

It occurred to us that we have opportunities to support existing projects that are already creating emissions reductions and renewable energy, but we are missing the key component of supporting the development of new technologies that will fuel our future. So we came up with an idea to invest in new technologies and developed it into the BuyforEarth Renewable Energy Fund.

I won't rehash it here but here is the link to the current plan. You can start allocating your points to the fund now. It will be a while before we can actually start investing, but we are excited about the potential. Plus, we can offer you something a little more.

Check it out and Don't forget to Shop 'til Carbon Drops!!!

Economics 101 -- Create Demand, Get Supply

2008-08-02T09:03:00.009-05:00

It's All About Economics
In my undergrad economics class I learned about the supply and demand curve. It’s pretty simple really, the supply and demand will balance where the profits are the highest and the profits are highest where the marginal price of a product is equal to the marginal cost of the product. What this really means is when demand increases above the supply, the price will increase and the supply will increase until matches the demand. It works the other way to. If supply increases the price will drop until the demand increases until it matches the supply.
Competition (also part of economics) dictates a switch from one product to an equivalent or similar product. When the price of a new product drops, more demand is created for the new product and suppliers shift production to creating the new product, reducing the supply of the old product and increasing its price.

Values Count
It is important to remember that Price and cost are not always money, it could be specific needs or time or beliefs or standards or law or compassion or any other value that an individual holds dear. Early adopters of new technology base their decision (which is, by definition, a rational decision) to purchase when the value exceeds the price.

It is economics that will create more renewable energy supply in the marketplace. Artificial stimulants are a way to increase demand and supply and move the product to the mainstream. We seek tax incentives to directly affect the price, enforce regulations to increase the supply and educate consumers to increase demand by changing needs or beliefs or any other non-monetary factor.

Competition Works
Competition is also very important, when demand begins to increase and supply begins to follow, suppliers will advance the technology to reduce the cost and increase the demand and eventually everybody agrees that the value exceeds the price and wants one. You have seen it hundreds of times. IPODs, cell phones, personal computers, etc…

More Is Better
We need more demand for Renewable energy sources in the marketplace. The right things are happening and will continue to happen to incubate the renewable energy market. Individuals (early adopters) are buying renewable energy at a premium price from their utilities, this is causing utilities to increase the supply and advance the technology. Demand increases, supply increases, technology increases, price will drop.

In order to get more renewable energy sources built and running and to make them economically viable we need to increase the demand. Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) give us a great opportunity to affect the demand and increase the supply. RECs are valuable to suppliers because they allow the marginal price to approach the marginal cost for the energy. Your decision must be rational, if you buy RECs it will be because the value is greater than the price you pay.

One Way To Increase Demand
BuyforEarth.com offers you an opportunity to buy RECs, increase the demand and move renewable energy toward the mainstream. We can’t do this by increasing the value or changing your beliefs. We do this by reducing the price you pay for renewable energy -- Your price is $0.00.

If you shop at BuyforEarth.com, you create a cash flow from the commissions earned. We allocate 95% of the commissions you earn for the purchase of Renewable Energy (buy RECs). You can even choose the types of renewable you support. When you ‘buy’ RECs through BuyforEarth.com you create more demand for Renewable Energy.

When you create more demand for Renewable Energy, you are advancing Energy Independence.

Did You Ever Get Distracted?

2008-08-01T06:29:00.004-05:00

Today, I got distracted by, of all things, paper.

We go through day after day, printing, copying, tossing, scribbling, doodling and here in the back country, we even spend time figerin (figuring for you high society types). I printed a document today, double-sided of course, and had to wait about 20 minutes while some report printed on the high-speed copier at the office. Probably a case of paper, 5,000 sheets of paper, I 'figered' (in my head to save paper) that was about 25 lbs of paper.

Here is what got me distracted. What is that costing? Not $, but resources. I found a calculator that told me, but I lost it and then I found it again. Here it is! I didn't validate the results, but used it to conduct a little experiment.

What if we convinced 10,000 folks to switch one case of recycled (100% post consumer waste with virgin paper)? Would that make a difference? (I assumed we would all offset the power with RECs from Wind Energy).

Savings:

2400 trees preserved for the future

6930.23 lbs water-borne waste not created

1,019,460 gal wastewater flow saved

112,800 lbs solid waste not generated

222,100 lbs net greenhouse gases prevented

1,700,000,000 BTUs energy not consumed

115,400 lbs air emissions not generated

48 barrels crude oil unused

Would it make sense to take one small step? I'll let you decide. Cost compare the products. I'm seeing about $1.50 per ream more for 100% recycled. That's $15.00 more for the paper.

If 10,000 people joined BuyforEarth.com and bought it at TheGreenOffice.com (in the Office Category of the BuyforEarth.com mall) they would each earn 5 points...that is 50,000 points which would buy about 3,333 Renewable Energy Certificates (over 3 million KWh) or Offset another 5,000 tons of carbon (in addition to what using recycled paper reduces).

My thoughts:

You can't beat that with a stick

Carbon Offsets or Renewable Energy Credits - Part 2

2008-07-29T16:53:00.003-05:00

When you support projects at BuyforEarth.com you can choose the type of project you are supporting. Projects or products are of either the Carbon Offset variety or the Renewable Energy Credit variety. In an earlier article, we provide some insight into Carbon Offsets. In this article we will discuss Renewable Energy Credits.

Renewable Energy Credits
Renewable Energy Credits or Certificates or Green Tags or Tradable Renewable Certificates or...(let's just call them RECs) are proof that a renewable energy source has been used to generate 1 Megawatt-hour (1,000 Kilowatt-hours). To put that in perspective the average Utility Customer in the U.S. uses about 800 KWh of electricity in a month. You can check your utility bill to see where your average use falls.

As with Carbon Offsets, RECs are issued to the company that produces the electricity and makes it available for consumption to a utilities customers. Once the REC is issued it can be sold to offset the higher cost of producing renewable energy.

How Does Renewable Energy Credits Reduce Carbon Emissions?
In about half the states, utilities are required to provide a certain percentage of the power they provide to their customers in the form of Renewable Energy. Because of this, they must have sufficient RECs to represent the amount of green energy that they must provide. If they do not produce enough with renewable source they own, they must purchase RECs to make up the difference.

As RECs are purchased by non-utility parties, they are no longer available to 'offset' the required generation of the regulated utilities. The utilities must either produce more green energy or offer more money for the RECs, creating more incentives for independent producers to produce more renewable energy and sell the credits to the utilities.

The more renewable energy that is available to us, the less fossil fuel generation will be required to meet our electricity needs. The less fossil fuel burned, the lower the Greenhouse Gas Emissions.

The REC market should, in the long run, even the economic playing field and allow Renewable Energy Sources to be cost-competitive with fossil generation.

How many Pounds GHG emissions are Reduced when an REC is Purchased?
Tough question. The GHG emissions represented by generating 1,000 KWh of electricity is the easy answer. To determine the actual reductions we have to make some assumptions about what kind of fossil fuel is being replaced by the renewable energy generation. Typically, this would be coal or natural gas. However, these are only replaced in the long run and a diversity of renewable sources are needed to replace the reliability of fossil generation. On average the GHG output to produce 1 MWh (1,000 KWh) of electricity for generation in 2004 was:

For Coal -- 2,189 pounds.
For Natural Gas -- 1,140 pounds.
All Fossil Fuels -- 1,922 pounds

Based on this information, the assumption of a similar mix of fossil generation being displaced by the REC would mean that GHG emissions slightly less than a ton are being reduced. Depending on where you live this number is going to be higher or lower. A good carbon footprint calculator will provide an accurate estimate of the emissions that 1,000 KWh of renewable electricity would offset. (Simply see what the carbon footprint is for you when you enter 1,000 KWh for your energy use at home.)

Which is better -- Carbon Offsets or RECs?
Carbon offsets represent a reduction in Greenhouse Gas emissions. RECs represent energy produced, that theoretically replace generation that produces GHGs. So they both have similar goals. It is all going to depend on your personal preferences. If you are also concerned with energy dependency on foreign oil, you may prefer to support Renewable energy projects offering RECs. If you want to support all reductions, Carbon Offsets may be the best choice since they include Renewable Energy and other types of Carbon Reductions. If you are price shopping you will want to compare apples to apples and convert RECs to equivalent emissions to see which is the lowest cost option for you.

Regardless of whether you choose Carbon Offsets or RECs to reduce your Carbon Footprint, remember that BuyforEarth.com will let you use your online shopping to support your favorite projects.

That's a Good Idea

2008-07-29T13:15:00.009-05:00

Your Feedback Is Important

We have received several comments and feedback on the BuyforEarth.com concept, from many of our prospective members and friends. Like we said our mission is to provide a way for people to join together and make a difference. Getting the concept out has helped us learn what we can do better.

We have spent the last few days, re-inventing certain aspects of our site and approach to answer to many of the suggestions we received. Here is what we have done.

We Simplified the Membership Process.
Joining BuyforEarth.com is as simple as we could make it. Membership is free, easy and we will track all of your activity and provide you with quarterly reports of your contribution to the environment.

You Choose Where Your Support Goes.
We have added the capability for Projects and Offset providers to be listed on BuyforEarth.com. In order to make it work we have implemented a system that will reward your shopping with points that you will use to 'buy' Carbon Offsets or Renewable Energy Credits from listed sources. You will use your Points to support the project of your choice. We have implemented standard products that you can choose from, but more choices will become available soon.

We Reward You for Referrals
When you refer your family and friends to BuyforEarth.com and they become members and make a purchase we will reward you with more points to use when you buy Offsets or RECs offered on the BuyforEarth.com website. The referral link is available in the BuyforEarth.com Mall.

You Can Suggest Projects
We need to build our Project list to include the kinds of projects you want to see. You can send us an email with a link to the project website and let us know of any projects or products that you would like to see listed on BuyforEarth.com. We will invite them to join.

Coming Soon -- A Green Mall
We are in the process of creating a mall that will include Merchants that offer 'Green' products exclusively to our members. Be looking for the opening soon.

We are still discussing some other suggestions that we have received. Thanks for the comments, they make us better at meeting your needs and accomplishing our goals. Keep 'em coming!

Carbon Offset or Renewable Energy Credits

2008-07-17T23:21:00.007-05:00

When you join BuyforEarth.com you choose if you want to direct your offset earnings to Carbon Offsets or Renewable Energy Certificates.

We struggled with giving you the choice, seeing that the end result really ends up being the same -- Less Greenhouse Gas Emissions. However, we believe that the choice is necessary, because of the differences in how the reductions are achieved. We should be able to choose, so we gave you the choice.

In part 1, we will take a look at how Carbon Credits are Created on the Chicago Climate Exchange. (Say that three times fast and you get a one-ton carbon credit free.)

The following came from the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) Website:

CCX issues tradable Carbon Financial Instrument® (CFI®) contracts to owners or aggregators of eligible projects on the basis of sequestration, destruction or reduction of GHG emissions.

Is that helpful? Methinks we need to look a bit closer:

GHG Emissions -- Greenhouse Gases consist of a great number of gases that exist in our atmosphere. Even though we have come to think of the term as somewhat negative, not all GHGs are "bad". In fact we need GHGs. Without GHGs in the atmosphere, heat would escape and the Earth would be really chilly. However, too many GHGs, and more heat would be retained, causing the temperature to rise. The claim is that we now have too many and the Earth's temperature is rising.
Carbon Financial Instrument -- In order to reduce the total amount of GHGs emitted, the
Chicago Climate Exchange was formed to provide a financial aspect to the equation. Industry is invited to voluntarily join and commit to the reduction of GHGs. Companies can either reduce their emissions directly or purchase Carbon Offsets to make up for emissions that exceed their commitments. A CFI is the instrument that provides for the Offsets. CFI's are traded on the CCX to provide a market value to the offsets. Companies that reduce more or implement projects are awarded CFIs and can sell them on the CCX. These funds are used to offset the expense of the projects themselves.
Eligible Projects -- There are many different types of projects eligible to receive offset credits. You can review project types at Carbon Neutral Digest and on the CCX website. Projects are proposed to the Exchange by the owners of the projects. The project must then obtain independent verification by a CCX approved verifier to assess the projects actual GHG emission Sequestration, Destruction or Reduction. Only then, are the offsets issued to the project owner. CFI contracts in a quantity equal to the project’s GHG emissions mitigation for the year that the reductions take place.

As a side note, these projects can include projects that would otherwise be eligible for renewable energy credits. We will discuss these in the next segment of this article.

Now the important part...

When a company gets these credits they can sell them. In some cases, these credits are sold to others that need to mitigate GHG emissions through offsets to meet their quota. In other cases, BuyforEarth.com's case, the CFI contracts are purchased and then retired. This means that the offset is not available to allow the emissions to occur. So our role is this, buy them, retire them and reduce the emissions.

Welcome to the BuyforEarth.com Website Blog

2008-07-17T17:48:00.007-05:00

First post. We have published the site. Still have a few pages to finish up, but all in all, things are looking pretty good.

Our research thus far tells us that the concept, if we approach it right, is valid. The audience is HUGE, the service is Broad and the purpose is significant. Now, the real test is to see if we can get our name out there and create a base of users that will make a difference.

We want (and need) to hear from you all. What is right? What is wrong? How Can we make it better for you, while maintaining a strong focus on our goals.

We still have to complete the Sponsors Page, Reports and need to add more links.

Some of the things that we have already begun to discuss:

A Member Recognition Page (e.g. the 100-ton Club, 1,000-ton Club)
A Green Product Mall.
More choices (currently we allow the choice of CCX based Carbon Offsets and RECs)
Promotion: 100-ton offset to the Member with the most Referrals
Promotion: Cash Prize to the Member with the most Offsets

Anyway, take a look at the site, and let us know what you think.