On September 21, I will bicycle 102 miles in the Tour d’Orange, which starts and finishes in Hillsborough, NC. The event is a fundraiser for the Multiple Sclerosis Society of the Greater Carolinas and my registration fee will support that cause.
In addition, I have decided to raise funds and awareness for Carbon Offsets To Alleviate Poverty (COTAP) and its projects in Malawi, Nicaragua, Mozambique, and Uganda. COTAP’s mission is to empower individuals to take action on both global warming and global poverty. COTAP enables you, through the accountable and market-based tool of carbon offsets, to compensate farmers in least developed countries for planting and maintaining trees on under-utilized portions of their land which will result in the long-term sequestration of carbon dioxide.
By supporting my campaign, you’ll be taking action on climate change, neutralizing your unavoidable CO2 emissions, and changing lives for the poorest people on Earth! And if your company matches your donation, those funds will help grow a bold new non-profit — founded and run by a former MBA student of mine, Tim Whitley.
Or, put another way, I’ll be out there suffering to help ease suffering. The more support I get for COTAP from you, the more bearable my suffering will be. Thanks for your consideration!
-Greg
About my event
- Event: Tour d’Orange
- Date: September 21, 2013
- Course: 102 miles on the rolling hills of Orange, Chatham, and Alamance Counties NC
- Location: Hillsborough, NC
My fundraising goal and where your donation goes
You can support my COTAP fundraiser 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 100 tonnes of their collective annual CO2 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 earnings.
COTAP’s Carbon Footprint Calculator
Record your inputs and results before leaving this page, as COTAP’s calculator currently 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.
More about Carbon Offsetting & COTAP
Fighting global warming is a challenge requiring many simultaneous solutions. As individuals, each of us can lower our carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions through actions like flying less and improving the energy efficiency of our cars and homes. For your unavoidable CO2 footprint which remains, you can utilize carbon offsets, an established market-based tool through which you can support projects which effectively remove your personal carbon pollution.
COTAP’s focus is on certified forestry projects which create life-changing income for smallholder farmers in least-developed countries who live on less than $2 per day. COTAP pools carbon offset donations from individuals and organizations and supports projects which compensate farmers for planting and maintaining trees on under-utilized portions of their land. Plantings and tree growth are monitored and verified by third parties, and farmer payments are front-loaded and performance-based, paid over a period of 7 to 10 years for plantings which will sequester CO2 over 25 or more years.
Individuals from all over the United States – as well as from places like Hong Kong, Cape Town, Sydney, and Paris – have already transformed over 6.4 million pounds of their carbon emissions into wages in Mozambique, Uganda, Nicaragua, and Malawi through COTAP. COTAP is a registered IRS 501(c)3 public charity, and all of its projects are certified under the voluntary Plan Vivo carbon standard, which is dedicated to generating not only verified emissions reductions, but also transparent, accountable, and life-changing income streams for smallholder farmers.
To learn more, please explore the Mission Statement, How It Works and Transparency sections in the About Us section of the above menu.
Want to be cool like Greg and Sweat for COTAP?
If you’re interested in being cool like Greg and doing an endurance event for COTAP (running, cycling, triathlon, etc.), check out the program details here.
