A Picture is Worth Two Tons of CO2

Ok, we all know that digital photography is certainly better for the environment than traditional film photography, but is there anything better? Well if you are thinking about a new digital camera for Mother's Day (or Earth Day, or whatever), check out this  "ECO-Green" special edition of the new Nikon COOLPIX S52, available exclusively from Ritz Camera. This cool camera is more than just green in color...

Ritz has partnered with Carbonfund.org to offset 1.91 tons of carbon dioxide for each ECO-Green COOLPIX purchased. That number corresponds to the average American's monthly carbon footprint according to Carbonfund.org research. They've focused their offsets on reforestation with the goal of reducing nearly 40,000 tons of CO2 from the environment. We hope other merchants follow suit and link product promotions to environmental awareness.

The special edition ECO-Green COOLPIX will be available exclusively at Ritz Camera stores nationwide starting May 1, 2008 for an MSRP of $249.95. You can pre-order online with no tax and free shipping. Smile!

I got this scoop because my husband is a huge digital photo junkie and is on the board of Ritz Interactive.

Comments

[becky94]

Thanks for the article about the Eco-Green Nikon camera. While it"s great that Nikon is doing something to counteract its carbon emissions, it leaves me wondering about the motives behind the promotion.

I read somewhere that carbon offsets are to pollution what indulgences were to the Catholic Church. By purchasing carbon offsets, corporations and individuals excuse themselves from their carbon sins. This could potentially be happening on both sides of this equation. I glanced at Nikon"s social responsibility reports from last year, and it looks that they are beginning to practice what they preach. However, other corporations may follow suit without making any internal environmental improvements. Corporations may avoid more environmentally-friendly production practices with carbon offsets as their justification. And what about the people buying these cameras? How many people will buy this eco-friendly camera to reduce their guilt about their own energy-wasting at home?

In the end, I think that offsets should be only one part of our environmental awareness. They should be a supplement to energy-saving initiatives, to offset the costs that absolutely can"t be avoided. A carbon offset doesn"t make a product any better than the others, and a single 1.9-ton carbon offset isn"t a good excuse to keep wasting 1.9 tons of carbon every month.