I don’t have time to write a whole lot on it, but travel booking website Travelocity is doing lots of cool stuff, including this:
Nearly 60 percent of the trees in the Bogue Chitto National Wildlife Refuge were destroyed when Hurricane Katrina struck the New Orleans coastline. Just more than a year later, Travelocity has teamed up with The Conservation Fund to begin replanting more than 2,000 trees in Bogue Chitto as part of Travelocity’s new Go Zero initiative.
Secure · Tax deductible · Takes 45 SecondsSecure · Tax deductible · Takes 45 SecondsThe tree planting is in conjunction with Travelocity’s new Go Zero initiative, which is a carbon offset program that allows customers to effectively "zero out" or offset the carbon emissions generated by their flight, hotel, or car usage through a donation to The Conservation Fund, which then plants trees that absorb carbon dioxide. Travelocity has also purchased carbon offsets for its own North American employee travel with a donation to the Go Zero program.
Go Zero is part of a larger campaign that Travelocity has launched called Travel For Good. As part of this campaign, Travelocity has teamed up with several volunteer vacation partners to promote "Voluntourism" — a way for travelers to take part in a volunteer project while on vacation. More information about Travel For Good can be found at www.travelocity.com/travelforgood. Additionally, more information about Go Zero can be found at www.travelocity.com/gozero.
Are they sincere about this, or are they “just” doing it to look good and make more money? I submit to you that it doesn’t matter. Not even a little bit.