Rant: Dropped $200 on a 'carbon offset' app that just planted trees in a parking lot

I bought into this app called GreenStep back in March. They claimed $200 would offset my whole year of driving. Turns out they 'planted' my trees in a strip of dirt behind a strip mall in Phoenix. I drove out there to see it myself. There's like 12 sad little saplings next to a dumpster. Has anyone else had luck with a legit offset program or is this all a scam?

3 comments

3 Comments

martin.riley1mo ago

Oh man, I mean honestly maybe you're being too harsh on them. That $200 bought you 12 trees that are actually there, right? That's like $16.67 per tree which is way cheaper than what you'd pay at a nursery, and trees in a parking lot still soak up carbon just as much as ones in a forest.

smith.nancy1mo ago

My neighbor tried planting trees in his driveway once, @martin.riley, but the squirrels just used them as a shortcut to his bird feeder.

paige_owens51mo ago

Huh, reminds me of the time my buddy Mark paid for a "green burial" and they buried him in a plot that turned out to be basically a glorified drainage ditch behind a funeral home. Spent $3,000 on a cardboard box that got soggy after one rainstorm. @martin.riley, you're giving them too much credit if you think those 12 saplings next to a dumpster in 115 degree heat are gonna make it past August. Did the app at least guarantee any watering schedule or was it just a "plant and pray" kind of deal?