Hold it right there...I'm sure I'm not the only one who renewed even though I stopped driving years ago for environmental reasons!! I still fly occasionally, I buy credits for friends and family that drive or fly to visit me. Any trip with a friend over a certain length - I buy credits. I give 'carbon-free house' credits for friends for birthday gifts (they'd probably rather have a bottle of wine...tough). I made small posters from your home page and put them up all over town, and have handed out dozens of CFL bulbs to people, businesses, etc. It's not been particularly easy to not drive, but at least I feel I'm educating people when I ask them for a ride! And tell them why.

We got Terrapass for our house and cars as a part of our New Year resolution to reduce our footprint. Since then we have done the following...

-We are using some hypermiling techniques which has increased the MPGs of our 2 Honda Civics by 20%
-I ride my Vespa motorscooter much more, as it gets twice the MPGs as my car currently gets (and it's more fun!)
-we tweaked our programmable thermostat to use less energy on air conditioning (tough to do during hot San Antonio summers)...we use fans a little more to make it feel cooler.
-we replaced a leaky sliding glass door with highly energy efficient french doors (we have one more to replace and then on to our windows)
-I started collecting recycling from where I work in addition to what we already recycled from our home and my parents home
-we started composting
-we installed a ladybug showerhead adapter from your store

We have much more planned, we do what we can as we can afford it. Our goal is to need a smaller Terrapass each year.

I'm rather new to the green movement and TerraPass, and this is my first post, so I'll apologize in advance for writing anything that has already been thought through and possibly discarded.

As I see things, TerraPass essentially sells absolution as a means of behavioral and environmental change. The problem I see is that people who will not be convinced of their guilt or who, in any case, will not purchase absolution will never use TerraPass. There is also the problem of purchased forgiveness not really being, or even feeling like, forgiveness. Mercy is free, or it is not mercy. As carbon offset purchasers begin to realize this, they will fall away.

I respectfully suggest that TerraPass should tie carbon offsets to actual financial stakes in green companies, or in pools of companies. This will expand the organization's range of influence, generate more capital for the development of budding technologies and provide TerraPass consumers with greater emotional and financial stakes in helping green companies succeed. By virtue of providing this valuable service, TerraPass will never need to "go away."

Hopefully, an increased level of investment would also help green companies lower product costs. This is quite a hurdle. Consumers can be as intellectually and emotionally green as they want, but there is a point at which economic pragmatics take over. If green alternatives were less expensive, more people would purchase them.

TerraPass might well be in a position now to help make that happen.

I gave up a car 3 years ago. I never fly and have only rented a car 3 times since then. I get around on my bike, or take our bio-diesel buses. I only use motorized transport about twice a week at most, most weeks not at all. Living in a rainy part of Oregon it does get a bit chilly and damp, but walking or biking work for me in ways that driving never did. I actually SEE my neighborhood, and interact with it see the people that live nearby, and participate in my neighborhood. I highly recommend this lifestyle.
Oh yeah, I gave up caffeine, too, so the ramped up urge to "get there now" has left me.
I do everything else green except for composting. Living in an apartment it's just not possible, though I'm hoping to convince the managers to go with that, and to plant a mix of herbs in place of the small lawn, and that way make it more possible for the residents to compost.

Unfortunately I live in suburbia, which makes not driving difficult. We do what we can, and we're getting better. Minimize driving, vanpool to work, walk the two miles to get groceries when able, plant drought-tolerant species to reduce watering, eliminate lawn area in favor of low-maintenance gardens, use CFLs and water-saving devices everywhere, etc. I'd love to replace my 13 year old heat pump/AC with a more efficient unit, but I just can't afford it now. For now we just crank the thermostat up in the summer and down in the winter. (The added benefit of that specific tactic is that I don't complain about the weather outside nearly so much as my coworkers.)

To Shirley on her composting comment: check with your local state university's cooperative extension office--they can offer composting suggestions. Many apartment dwellers run a successful vermicomposting (composting with worms) bin in their own kitchens.

As a small business owner, we've purchased carbon credits to offset our vehicles and business functions. I own a "green" pool company in New York, meaning that we make available chlorine free alternatives, energy efficient motors and heat pumps. We also work closely with the solar panel installation company out here. We offer paperless billing and anything that we do need to print is done on recycled paper with vegetable based ink when possible. ALL THIS and we still offer our services at the same price as our chlorine using, eco-ravaging competitors! We make less profit, but our mission is to make it easier for our clients to become chlorine-free. People mock the "trendy-green" rage that is going on right now, but honestly, if we can take one pool away from dumping chlorine into the environment (not only in production but also in backwashing and leaking pools) does it really matter the intention behind it? The easier it is to become green, the less "martyr" we make it, the better for overall picture.

And as it would be quite impossible to bike with pool vacuum poles, Terra Pass you will never lose us! Even when we reach our goal of having a bio-diesel fleet we will continue supporting your mission.