One Percent for the Planet

It’s been just about three years now that I’ve been out on my own, building SimpleBits into a fledgling little business. I feel really fortunate to be able to wake up everyday and work on things that I’m excited about. It’s been a lot of work, of course (as many of you know) — but the flexibility has been especially important lately.

For a while now, I’ve been thinking of ways I could give back, finally stumbling on an organization called 1% for the Planet. From their mission statement:

1% For The Planet is an alliance of businesses committed to leveraging their resources to create a healthier planet. Members recognize their responsibility to and dependence on a healthy environment and donate at least 1% of their annual sales to environmental organizations worldwide.”

It struck a chord with me immediately. Here’s a structured way I could give back to the environment as a business each year. I filed the paperwork, and from now going forward, SimpleBits, LLC will be a proud member.

One of the aspects I really dig about 1%FTP, is the fact that as a business, it’s up to you in choosing what environmental groups you’d like to donate to from a list of approved organizations. That takes much of the guesswork out of “where to donate?”, and is a real benefit in joining the group. I’ll be choosing 2006′s groups over the next month or so. There are already a few local orgs that look interesting (Ipswich River Watershed Association for example, where I’ve often gone hiking).

I do realize 1% of our revenue isn’t going to change the world — a drop in the bucket really. But I thought it was worth mentioning publicly in case others have also been searching for an easy way to help the environment. And the more businesses on board, the better for all of us.