According to the news many people in some parts of the world are getting richer, the 1%, and they own most of the world’s economy while the rest of the world, the other 99% divides it among ourselves. Whether you inherited your money in a trust, earned it by growing a startup and cashing out at 27, or just won the financially lottery, then hats off to you. One of the problems with having a lot of money is making choices. When you can hire a private helicopter to take you from one city to the next for dinner the last thing you might be thinking about is how to travel more lightly on the earth.
Solar Impulse, a Swiss-run venture uses solar power to fly around the world – showing it can be done.
First off you can make sure you buy carbon offsets every time you fly, or estimate for the year and purchase credits once a month or once a year like when you do your accounting. It’s okay to tell your cousin to go plant a few hundred trees in your estate in Colorado, but being part of a scheme helps you quantify and report and may even help you qualify for tax credits.
Speaking of which, wealthy eco heros are welcome to earn tax credits. Whenever you donate to a US-registered NGO or charity registered in your country, you can earn valuable tax credits which reduces your tax burden.
Carbon can be offset by planting trees, creating renewable energy.
A few charities off the cuff, is the Sierra Club (for Nature Lovers), Charity: Water for those who care about water. GreenPeace, links below, also has international groups that can help with tax receipts if you live in the Middle East.
Taking a deeper dive for those who want to put some big money into the environment (maybe you won the jackpot on online slots 918Kiss-malaysia.net – well hell, yeah. Bring that money back into a cycle of healing and goodness.
If you are based in the Middle East, The Emirates Environmental Group (EEG) is dedicated to environmental protection and responsible waste management through education, community engagement and action projects. They sponsor a lot of fun and educational activities in a region where community life can be dull thanks to terrible urban planning in towers. Founded in 1991, and the first environmental NGO in the world to be accredited with the ISO 14001 certification, EEG has made a positive contribution to sustainable development in Dubai and the United Arab Emirates.
The Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy based in the United States protects ecologically important lands and waters around the world with the help of more than 500 staff scientists. It spends over 70% of its operating budget on preservation programs that address climate change, fresh water, forests, invasive species, and marine ecosystems. We can get behind that!
Recognized as the world’s largest NGO, Greenpeace has campaigned since 1971 to address environmental threats faced by our planet. These include protecting our oceans and ancient forests, working towards disarmament and peace and – the greatest risk – climate change. Today Greenpeace is active in 40 nations.
Travel
More and more places around the world offer experiential travel. While your hands may not be the most helpful if you have only flown into a country for a week or two, what you can do is to connect with a local NGO where you are travelling and offer them business advice, or fundraising advice, or help them run their instagram account.
There are a great number of bridges you can form without “using” the locals – in that I mean taking selfies with a poor kid from China, Africa, Latin America – making you look like the hero and them look like the one being saved. We all need saved from something, sometimes even ourselves. Look deep and apply the skills you have to make this great world even better. With the confidence of money behind you you have nothing to lose.
