Carbon Offsets To Alleviate Poverty (COTAP) empowers individuals and organizations to fight both climate change and global poverty by connecting their carbon emissions with certified forestry projects in least-developed countries which create life-changing income for smallholder farmers who live on less than $2 per day.
What I’m doing and why I’m doing it
Hi Friends & Family,
I’m competing in the Long Course at the Wildflower Triathlon in Lake San Antonio, California. The Wildflower is a terrific event known as the ‘Woodstock’ of triathlons because most participants camp at the course, which is a beautiful park in the rolling hills north of Paso Robles. The race is also a world-class event attracting some of the top competitors in the sport.
This is my fourth time competing at this event and my first time doing so as a sponsor for a non-profit. I work in the solar energy area and learned of COTAP through a friend who thought I’d be interested. While solar projects may be used to reduce carbon emissions and provide job opportunities, to date these projects have been concentrated in first-world countries that already have economic opportunities.
I like the fact that COTAP’s certified forestry projects are located in very impoverished areas where the economic opportunities they create are changing lives for some of the poorest communities in the world. I’m looking forward to the Wildflower again this year, especially because I’ll be raising awareness and money for COTAP’s projects through the event!
Brendan
My event details
- Event: Wildflower Triathlon
- Date: Saturday, May 4, 2013
- Long Course: 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run
- Location: Lake San Antonio, California
My fundraising goal and where your donation goes
You can support my triathlon by transforming some or all of your annual CO2 emissions into wages through COTAP (at right). My goal is for friends and family to address at least 200 tonnes of their collective annual emissions.
The average American carbon footprint (from driving, home energy use, and flying) is approximately 18 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year, but you can of course offset less or more than that if you like. If you don’t know what your carbon footprint is, you can use COTAP’s thorough-but-easy calculator below.
COTAP allocates 90.9% of your offset transaction to its 4 portfolio projects in Nicaragua, Mozambique, Uganda, and Malawi where a projected 60.4% percent goes to rural communities as life-changing wages. You can learn more about COTAP’s projects at www.COTAP.org/projects.
COTAP’s Carbon Footprint Calculator
Record your inputs and results before leaving this page, as our calculator doesn’t retain results. COTAP’s calculator methodology can be found here.
Tax-deductibility
The entire amount of a COTAP contribution is tax-deductible for U.S. residents because COTAP is an IRS-recognized 510(c)3 public charity.
Learn more about COTAP’s mission and how it works
To learn more, please explore the Mission Statement and How It Works sections in the About Us section of the above menu.
