Eco-Action Tip #20

Now you can decorate your house with LED lights that use 90 percent less energy than conventional holiday lights, and can save your family up to $50 on your energy bills during the holiday season! LED lights are available at many major retailers, including Target, CostCo, and Ace Hardware.

Click here for more reduction tips >>

Our carbon offsets are making a world of difference.

BeGreen Carbon Offsets are the latest sustainable product offered by Green Mountain Energy — BeGreen's parent company. At BeGreen, we provide our carbon offsets to consumers like you, ensuring that your purchases help take solid steps toward reducing your impact on global warming.

Our identity as a carbon offset provider is inextricably linked with our decade of experience supplying cleaner energy. Green Mountain Energy, the parent company of BeGreenNow, began in 1997 with a simple idea: "to change the way power is made". Since then, Green Mountain has become the nation's leading cleaner energy provider.

As the first renewable energy marketer to offer a carbon solutions product line, we emphasize that our vision reaches far beyond that of an electricity supplier. In 2006 we blazed a new trail, with the launch of our carbon offsetting division BeGreenNow. Since then, BeGreenNow has expanded to serve the carbon offsetting needs of both our individual and business customers. The common thread among our diverse customer base is a dedication to living and working sustainably, a value also embraced by Green Mountain.

We embrace the principles of integrity, accuracy, and verifiability

Environmental integrity is the foundation of a trustworthy carbon offset provider. BeGreen carbon offsets, backed by the progressive mindset of Green Mountain Energy, provide reliable and transparent opportunities to invest in lower emitting technologies like renewable energy, forest restoration, and energy efficiency projects. We work with well known non-profit organizations like Arbor Day Foundation, American Forests, The Pacific Forest Trust, The Voluntary Carbon Standard, and The Climate Trust to provide high quality carbon offsets. We also source high quality renewable energy credits from wind, solar, hydro, and biomass facilities nationally. Since our inception our customer support for new renewable energy has enabled us to help build over 35 Green Mountain Energy wind and solar installations to date.

Verifiable accounting practices ensure that our carbon offset purchases match up exactly to our customers' purchases. All of our transactions are subject to both internal audit and an independent third party audit; click here to view the complete third party audit report. Meanwhile, accurate calculation methodologies derived from EPA guidelines make sure that our carbon calculator delivers a dependable estimate of your carbon footprint.

We walk the talk

Environmental stewardship is at the heart of Green Mountain Energy Company. We believe that by "walking the talk", we further our mission from the inside out. Our commitment to environmental stewardship is manifested in the design of our energy products and in our efforts to engage in daily business practices that promote a healthier planet.

Our membership in the EPA Climate Leaders program demonstrates our internal commitment to environmental stewardship. Because of the threat of global warming from increased CO2 concentration in the air, we choose to act with precaution by curbing our own emissions. Since 2004, we have estimated the CO2 emissions from our key business activities and proactively reduced or offset them. At first, we pledged to offset 50% of our corporate emissions with green power purchases. In the spirit of continuous improvement, we raised our goal in 2005 to 100% mitigation. Green Mountain remains committed to carbon neutrality through 2010.

"Green Mountain Energy Company's voluntary participation in the EPA's Climate Leaders program demonstrates a serious commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives Division. Green Mountain's aggressive greenhouse gas reduction target will help lead the way in improving our global environment."

— Kathleen Hogan, Director of EPA's Climate Protection Partnership

Green Mountain Energy has a long-term membership in the Ceres coalition, and publicly issues an environmental report that discloses corporate environmental policies and performance.