mokugift corporate blog

Mokugift's 1000 Ways To Plant A Tree

2010-02-25T09:36:00.000-08:00

Mokugift has launched a new campaign to showcase innovative companies using trees to reward and engage customers. Check out our press release for more details:

1,000 Ways To Plant A Tree Campaign Launch; Goal: Absorbing 5 Million Pounds Of CO2 Per Year

Friends of mokugift around the world

2010-02-25T09:21:00.000-08:00

One of the greatest things about being a part of mokugift is finding out about people around the world getting involved with climate change or covering climate change. Check out these friends of ours:

Yes, we Care - Netherlands

The Lifestyle Section: Philippines Lifestyle News - Philippines

'A Real Tree' reviewed on PlentyWays!

2010-02-16T09:29:00.000-08:00

Mokugift's 'A Real Tree' iphone app isn't the only green app on iphone to help you make your lifestyle more sustainable. PlentyWays just published a review of 'Top 5 Green & Environmental iPhone apps'. Our friends at 3rd Whale are also on the list. Check it out. 3 of the apps are free to download. PlentyWays give you plenty of ways to go green. Check out their shop for green products.

Growing City Urban Composting Solutions

2010-01-13T14:02:00.000-08:00

Growing City Urban Composting Solutions chose mokugift as a holiday greeting and also gave mokugift a wonderful writeup.

Growing City offers composting solutions for businesses, offices and residential towers in Vancouver.

Mokugift has been Nerd Stalked!

2010-01-11T09:34:00.000-08:00

Failcon was awesome. We met many great companies and brave entrepreneurs that realize that understanding and embracing failure is how we become successful. Perseverance!

I met with Adolfo of Nerd Stalker, a video blog that interviews tech entrepreneurs. Check out Nerd Stalker for insightful interviews. Here is our video interview. Adolfo has nerd cred. He's actually typed/punched those old-school punch cards as a kid.

Mokugift Featured in Top 7 Best Green iPhone Apps

2009-12-17T13:38:00.000-08:00

I've won awards for furniture design in the past, so you can tell that I love design, architecture and the environment. Today, one of my favorite blogs, Inhabitat, selected Mokugift's A Real Tree iPhone app as one of the Top 7 Best Green iPhone apps!

This means a lot to me. More interestingly, the post starts off with "...Electronics have a pretty nasty rep as polluters of the Earth, but they can actually be an environmentalist’s best friend when they’re used for good instead of evil...". It almost foreshadows Mokugift's next project....stay tuned.

183,000 trees. Mokugift Holiday Party

2009-12-14T13:12:00.000-08:00

Mokugift will be part of the Trendy Lime Holiday Gala. Come by. RSVP now!

Thank you to Trendy Lime for inviting Mokugift to participate

Mokugift's A Real Tree iphone app on CNN!

2009-12-09T16:28:00.000-08:00

Mokugift's A Real Tree iphone app was mentioned in CNN Apps of the Week!

iPhone users have planted 1,533 trees via this app. Please spread the word.

Plant a Tree

Justin.tv and Mokugift Launch Campaign to Plant 1 Million Trees

2009-12-08T09:36:00.000-08:00

In a new joint effort, Mokugift and Justin.tv are joining forces to promote a campaign to help stop global climate change via tree planting. The goal is to gather the momentum of the broadcasters and members of Justin.tv to plant at least 1 million trees by Earth Day 2010. Broadcasters on Justin.tv will be able to add a special mokugift widget to their channel page that will enable viewers to plant a tree for each. The widget will show the total number of trees planted via each broadcaster’s widget. Viewers will also be able to share their tree planting activity via Facebook and other social networks to inspire friends to join the fight against climate change. Participants will be able to follow their progress through the campaign page showing the up to date total across all Justin.tv broadcasters and also a leaderboard for the top broadcasters.

The Justin.tv tree planting campaign is launching on December 8th, during the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference. World leaders are convening in Copenhagen to negotiate and agree upon how world governments will cooperate and make the critical changes we need to make now in fighting climate change before we pass the point of no return. Deforestation is responsible for about 15% of global carbon emissions. Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) has been talked about for years but the summit at Copenhagen is the first opportunity to see it implemented on a global scale. REDD would allow countries to trade on the carbon value of their forests. If successful, it could be a relatively inexpensive way to quickly reduce deforestation, cut emissions and preserve the habitats of some of the most endangered species on the planet.

OneClimate, a Justin.tv broadcaster, will be covering the Copenhagen climate conference at OneClimate's Channel, starting Monday the 7th at 6pm Central Europe time, 9am Pacific time. During this continual coverage, there will be shows at 3am, 5am, 7am, 9am, and 11am Pacific time. Tune in for the latest including interviews, details on the science, live video feeds of the conference and demonstrations. Viewers will have the opportunity to comment and ask questions, so stop in and be a part.

Mokugift and Justin.tv have provided the tools, now we need everyone to participate. Come join Justin.tv tree planting campaign in our goal to plant 1 million trees by next Earth Day. Get your widget today at Visit http://www.mokugift.com/justintv

Then, view the live coverage by OneClimate at http://www.justin.tv/petersanderstead, your very own front seat to the climate conference.

Site5 and mokugift covered in The Web Host Industry Review

2009-11-27T10:55:00.000-08:00

Web hosting provider Site5 (www.site5.com) announced on Wednesday it has partnered with mokugift (www.mokugift.com) to plant a tree for every new hosting account (www.mokugift.com/ecopage/site5webhosting). Read the rest at Web Host Industry Review

Mokugift featured on Yahoo Shine

2009-11-25T09:34:00.000-08:00

Yahoo's Shine site featured mokugift. This was all made possible by the great team over at DailyGrommet that searches for unique and creative gifts. Each day they feature something new and exciting.

Check it out!

Justin.tv and mokugift partner to fight climate change

2009-11-25T09:22:00.000-08:00

The wonderful folks at Justin.tv have partnered for a special campaign that enables Justin.tv producers and members to plant trees and inspire others to plant trees.

The Justin.tv campaign widget will display the total trees planted via the campaign widgets. The total will also display ancillary tree plantings that are inspired by friends that see the actions of Justin.tv producers and members.

You can get your Justin.tv mokugift widget here and promote tree planting on your Justin.tv channel or profile page. http://www.mokugift.com/justintv

Mokugift is on the front page of Yahoo.com

2009-09-29T08:39:00.000-07:00

San Francisco, CA September 29, 2009 - Launching the week after Global Climate Week (Sept 20th – 26th), mokugift’s GreenLifestyle daily quiz and green fact-sharing application on Yahoo!’s homepage empowers up to 118 million* individuals to make every week Global Climate Week. By taking three daily quiz questions, users can learn new environmental facts every day in just a few minutes. With a few more clicks of the mouse, they can challenge a few friends to a quiz and pleasantly surprise them with new green knowledge.

For busy users, with a single click of the mouse, they can broadcast a daily environmental fact to friends that use Yahoo! Mail and Yahoo! Messenger 10 through Yahoo! Updates. Anyone can add Mokugift’s GreenLifestyle app to his or her Yahoo! homepage exploring the My Favorites application gallery on Yahoo.com.

Mokugift’s GreenLifestyle is a break from the gloom and doom of economic and environmental news. GreenLifestyle gives everyone the opportunity to learn about the environmental choices that they are empowered to make in their daily lives. Sharing this knowledge is a positive experience that they can enjoy every day.

Organized by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Global Climate Week 2009 (theme: ‘Seal The Deal') focused attention on raising awareness of the upcoming crucial climate policy meeting in Copenhagen, in December 2009. Through its “Plant for the Planet: Billion Tree Campaign,” UNEP is appealing to global citizens to achieve the goal of planting seven billion trees—roughly one tree for every living person on the planet—by the end of 2009.

Users of mokugift’s GreenLifestyle earn points by answering quiz questions correctly and by challenging friends to quizzes. The top 1,000 users of each month get to plant a real tree for free via mokugift. Points are reset to zero each month, so everyone has a chance to plant a tree for free and do their part in the Billion Tree Campaign.

Mokugift’s GreenLifestyle gives the all users the opportunity plant a real tree as a gift for a friend for $1 apiece. Mokugift trees are planted by farmers practicing environmentally sustainable forestry and agricultural methods in tropical zones in Central America, Africa and Asia. The plantings not only restock, with native trees, existing forests that have been depleted, but also contribute to more diverse, productive and economically sustainable land-use systems. An average tropical tree absorbs 50 pounds of carbon dioxide annually over its lifetime, providing enough clean oxygen for two people.

Yahoo.com is one of the most popular homepages in the US and the world, with approximately 118 million monthly visitors (comScore, August 2009). “Yahoo! gives us an amazing opportunity to make environmental education a fun and easy daily activity for 118 million individuals.” says mokugift co-founder Krates Ng. “Yahoo! is a great partner in our mission to empower more people to participate in the UNEP Billion Tree Campaign”.

An official partner of UNEP, mokugift not only empowers people to participate in theBillion Tree Campaign, it also provides the tools to inspire others to participate. Tree planting is an easy first step to a more environmentally responsible lifestyle, and Mokugift enables anyone concerned about climate change—even those lacking access to planting space—to make a difference. Mokugift.com fosters global environmental solidarity by letting everyone see how their actions inspire their friends, and friends of friends, to take part in the Billion Tree Campaign.

Anyone receiving a mokugift tree receives their own mokugift.com web page, a virtual island that serves as a platform for encouraging others to plant trees themselves or “gift” trees to others. Active promoters of tree planting via mokugift receive acknowledgement for their achievement on the site and are rewarded with free tree planting. The planting of real mokugift trees is administered by award-winning nonprofit agroforestry organizations such as Trees For The Future and Sustainable Harvest International.

Mokugift invites everyone to try out GreenLifestyle on Yahoo! and start their day with positivity and empowerment to make a difference in the fight against climate change.

*comScore, August,2009

About UNEP’s Billion Tree Campaign
Launched in November 2006 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), with the objective of encouraging the planting of at least one billion trees worldwide each year, “Plant for the Planet: The Billion Tree Campaign” is now recognized as one of the UN’s most successful environmental campaigns. To date, UNEP has tracked the planting of more than three billion trees in 166 countries. Now in its second stage, the campaign, which stresses the power of partnerships, has set a new goal of seven billion trees planted before the end of 2009—roughly one tree for every living person on the planet. Every tree counts, and UNEP counts every tree.

For more information on the UNEP’s billion tree campaign, please visithttp://www.unep.org/billiontreecampaign/

About mokugift
A social venture focused on customer experience and tangible, positive benefit to the environment and society, Mokugift makes it easy and rewarding to plant trees, for $1 apiece, through online “gifting.” Giving a mokugift tree is similar to sending an e-card, and recipients can proudly display their trees online at Facebook, MySpace, Yahoo!, and 50 other popular Web sites.

An official partner of the United Nations Environment Programme's Billion Tree Campaign, mokugift collaborates with award-winning nonprofit agroforestry organizations such as Trees For The Future and Sustainable Harvest International to plant trees in twelve countries: Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Burundi, Senegal, Zambia, India, the Philippines and Haiti. Using environmentally sustainable methods, farmers in these countries plant mokugift trees to restock existing forests and enable more diverse, productive and economically sustainable land-use systems.

For more information on mokugift, please visit http://www.mokugift.com

Green Software Unconference Aug 19th.

2009-08-05T10:13:00.001-07:00

Connect. Create. Act.

Register, and in addition to the collaboration and innovation benefits you will receive, we'll plant a tree for each Early Bird registrant via MokuGift, a United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) Partner.

**Limited number of seats available so sign up today!**

Who will attend:
-Software Companies
-Entrepreneurs
-Venture Capitalists
-Software Developers
-Marketers and Business Strategists
-Engineers
-Sustainability Professionals

Technologies and Verticals:
Mobile, Web 2.0/3.0, Clean Tech, Water, Virtualization, Smart Grid, Smart Metering, SAAS, Smart IT, Gadgets, Server Technology, Building, Government, Manufacturing, Design & User Experience etc.

Do you have a Topic you'd like to Lead? Tell us during your Eventbrite Registration.

What is an Unconference:
An Unconference is a participant-driven conference centered around a theme or purpose and is a forum for creativity, engineering, and innovation.

Why Green AND Software?:
A January Fast Company article deemed the Sustainability Systems Developer one of the Ten Best Green Jobs for the next decade.
The article states: "The green economy needs a cadre of specialized software developers and engineers who design, build, and maintain the networks of sensors and stochastic modeling that underpin wind farms, smart energy grids, congestion pricing and other systems substituting intelligence for natural resources. Coders with experience using large scale enterprise resource planning have an edge here, as well as developers familiar with open source and web 2.0 applications."

Software examples include:

IBM - sensors & software to manage H2O
Lil Green Patch
Go Green Mobile Carbon Tracking
Bon Appetit Management Co's Low Carbon Diet Website
Clear Standards (SAP) Carbon Accounting Software
Numerous Green Blogs/Websites/Social Media/Virtual Communities

Sponsors:
Conference sponsorships are available offering you the opportunity to gain premium presence in front of conference attendees. To discuss an advertising, sponsorship or custom marketing program that is right for you, email us. greensoftwareunconference at gmail dot com
Platinum: $2,000
Gold: $1,000
Silver: $500

Register Now:
**We'll plant a tree for each Early Bird registrant via MokuGift, a United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) Partner. Thank you to Eventbrite for helping to Sponsor this.

Early Registration by August 10 - $100
After August 10 - $150
**Limited number of seats available so sign up today!**

Rideshare Partner:

Are you looking for someone to share the trip with? We have partnered with ZoomPool to help folks find carpool options to this event. Reduce carbon emissions while you meet like-minded new friends. Click on the ZoomPool image and search for a trip partner.

(beta)

Facebook and Twitter:
Join Facebook LinkedIn and Twitter, and you'll receive up-to-the-minute information about the Green Software Unconference!

August 19, 2009 Agenda:
8:30am - Breakfast and Registration
9:00am - Welcome and Introductions
9:45am - Unconference Session Proposals
10:30am - 11:15 - Session One
11:30-12:30 - Lunch
1:00 - 1:45 - Session Two
2:00 - 2:45 - Session Three
3:00 - 3:45 - Session Four
4:00 - 4:45 - Summary & Raffle
4:45 - 5:45 - Happy Hour Networking

(Happy Hour Sponsored by Holme Grown Brand)
(Raffle giveaways include: organic wine, computer books, trees -

Thank you Holme Grown Brand, O'Reilly, MokuGift, and Mozilla, Smart Grid Library)

Digital Summer. Aug 19th. Come after the Green Unconference

2009-08-05T10:09:00.000-07:00

DIGITAL SUMMER combines three passions: Photography, Technology, and Fashion.

On August 19^th Ubergizmo and Girls in Tech are partnering up to create DIGITAL SUMMER in Temple, San Francisco, one of the few sustainable nightclubs in the world.

We are bringing the most international, professional, and glamorous crowd of San Francisco for socializing, professional photo-shoot, technology, green cause, and eco-fashion.

PROGRAM:

-Test-drive HP's coolest products

- Try out the latest Intel-based devices

*8-11 PM Studio Photo-Shoot by Eye-Fi (Feel like a Model!)

*8.30-10 PM Atelier Emmanuel, fine boutique hair salon & day spa will spoil you!

*8.30-10 PM STAR Make-Up Artists Bianca Lucescu and Candy Walker will be hosting Eye-Lash Bar!

*9-9.30 pm Photo-Show by Khan Kanga and Damien Miller, and Eco-Fashion by Edun and Edun Live

*8-10 pm test-drive HP's coolest products

In addition, our partner Mokugift, the official United Nations will be planting a tree with every glass of champagne consumed at the event.

MUSIC: guest DJ Mrs.Blythe

ADMISSION:

$1 with RSVP on the event invitation page (plants a tree)

$ 5 at the door w/o RSVP

PLEASE NOTE:

DRESS CODE—Chic and Elegant

SPONSORS:

Platinum:HP

Silver: Intel

Bronze: Edun Live

MEDIA PARTNERS:

Ubergizmo, GadgetSpin, TechieDiva, TechMamas, Ponzarelli.com, Snap Summit, SGN

Executive Producer-Liana Burtsava, Co-Producer-Eliane Fiolet (Ubergizmo)

Posted at 07:13 PM in event | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

mokugift 'One Wish For Our Planet' campaign is starting to pick up

2009-08-03T09:44:00.000-07:00

Mokugift's One Wish For Our Plant videos are starting to pick up. Here is the link love:
Catherine Grison
Leslie O'Donnell
Posterous (enviro press releases)
Hip Hop Press Releases
Go Green Tube (green videos)
David Woo on San Francisco Examiner
Brian Riddle (green builder and environmentalist on twitter)
Underground Homes (environmental homes)

Thanks to you all! Follow Friday coming this week.

To check out our videos, go to mokugift's youtube page

On the Blazed & Confused Tour (Slightly Stoopid + Snoop Dogg)

2009-07-28T07:58:00.000-07:00

We were invited to have a booth on the Blazed&Confused concert tour headlined by Slightly Stoopid and Snoop Dogg. It was a great opportunity to give attendees a voice and to express themselves in a way that will resonate with their peers

Be Green at our Be Green Forum. July 22nd, 2009 @ Temple

2009-07-21T14:06:00.000-07:00

BE GREEN FORUM

Every glass of champagne plants a tree!
Learn how rock-stars and athletes fight global warming with Mokugift!
Complimentary appetizers early in the evening!

8.30 pm, Q&A SESSION by San Francisco’ “green” companies

Mokugift: UN partner, plant a tree for $1 trees.mokugift.com
Viv: make impact by using Viv stickers at green businesses
Friends of the Urban Forest: urban forestry non-profit
PlantSense: Internet-enabled plant sensor

ADMISSION

$1 with RSVP (plants a tree): http://mokugift.eventbrite.com/
$5 at the door w/o RSVP

PLEASE NOTE:

DRESS CODE - Chic and Elegant

MEDIA SUPPORT: Ubergizmo.com

Mokugift gives everyone the ability to plant a tree in Central America, Africa and Asia for $1. Mokugift trees can be planted as a gift for a friend and sent like an e-card. Mokugift is an official partner of the United Nations Environment Programme. Mokugift is also partnering with Viv and Friends of the Urban Forest to showcase local choices that you can make to fight climate change.
Viv enables consumers like you to help SF businesses become more green by simply using the Viv sticker every time you make a purchase at a Viv business. There are around 80 businesses participating in the Viv program, and more joining every month.
Friends of the Urban Forest is an urban forestry non-profit that plants trees on the streets you walk on in San Francisco.
San Francisco-based company PlantSense will introduce guests to the EasyBloom Plant Sensor, an innovative gardening tool that takes the guesswork out of gardening and helps conserve water. The unique Internet-enabled plant sensor recommends and monitors plants, and also alerts users when they’re overwatering their greens, preventing water, energy and money from being wasted.

Green Lifestyle App under the spotlight

2009-06-06T00:59:00.000-07:00

We are very excited that our Green Lifestyle app is part of Yahoo! Application Platform (YAP) launch.

We had a great time designing and developing this app. The Yahoo! team has been amazing during the entire development process, from concept refinement and usability suggestions to technical support. On the top of that, they have put up this very cool video with Hans. Please check it out:

June 11th Feel Good Party with Fotki and mokugift in San Francisco

2009-05-28T11:59:00.000-07:00

Thursday June 11th at Temple Nightclub in San Francisco.

Location: 540 Howard st.
Time: Starts at 7pm

Photo-Shoot by Fotki.com
Plant a tree via Mokugift.com
Eco-Fashion Show
Intuition sessions from Insight Salon
Gifts from Juice Beauty

Check out ZapRoot green innovation news: mokugift reviewed

2009-05-17T23:46:00.000-07:00

Zaproot is one hour of green innovation news with in 5 minutes with a laugh every 30 seconds. Yeah, my head was spinning.

Green IPhone Apps ZapRoot - More amazing video clips are a click away

get to know mokugift via video

2009-04-23T10:54:00.000-07:00

We realized that you don't often see the faces behind mokugift. When Daily Grommet approached us with a feature for Arbor Day, we were happy to answer some questions via video.

NerdLike Giveaway

2009-04-15T10:42:00.000-07:00

For every tree you plant at mokugift via this link, you will be entered into a drawing for a 20.00 Gift Card to Target from NerdLike.com . The giveaway will run until May 1, 2009.

hip hip and mokugift: Omar Offendum

2009-04-14T09:52:00.000-07:00

The hip hop community is really starting to embrace the mission and message of mokugift. Omar Offendum, an up-and-coming hip hop artist, is on board with mokugift. Omar, doesn't just talk the talk. Environmentalism is a part of his life. Moreover, the symbolism of trees is relevant to his identity. I'll let Omar's quote speak for itself:

"I am an immigrant, I have nomadic ancestry, and I am constantly on tour promoting my music - so the idea of "putting down roots" in this world is quite compelling to say the least ... besides that, I love me some trees!"

Plant a tree with Omar here.
Check out Omar's upcoming shows here.

What we really like is that he customized his text to say 'Omar is under the influence of TREES - Plant One'. He has a way with words.

Pharoahe Monch on board with mokugift

2009-04-07T15:51:00.000-07:00

You must have heard Pharoahe Monch's legendary 1999 track Simon Says. We are happy to have him on board with mokugift's Artists & Athletes program. Mokugift's Artists & Athletes program enables artists and athletes to inform, inspire and empower their fans to participate in the United Nations Environment Programme's Billion Tree Campaign. Fans can now plant trees with artists and athletes that have gotten on board with mokugift.

You can plant a tree with Pharoahe Monch here

Stay tuned for some words from Pharoahe about his thoughts on how hiphop and environmental action can be combined. For now, you can get a sense of how he approaches his art by checking out this video:

Pharoahe Monch from Monstar Productions LLC on Vimeo.

Apple Chops Down A Real Tree

2009-03-11T13:26:00.000-07:00

Our vision was to utilize the iPhone’s superior distribution platform to empower users with an easy way to make positive social contributions. However, we received a call on last Wednesday (March 4th) from an Apple representative stating that a new policy is now in effect that prohibits apps from promising to perform any services beyond the application as well as any and all applications related to charity. The Apple representative said that this policy had been outlined in the SDK agreement. After a thorough search of the document, we were unable to find any reference to such services nor even the word 'charity' in the agreement.

We called back the Apple representative and when we asked to be forwarded an official copy of this official yet unwritten policy, the Apple representative declined and stated that he can only tell us over the phone. This person even declined to email us from an Apple email address to confirm that he worked for Apple. We wondered if this was legit, so we called Apple and asked for him via the front desk. He answered, so as far as we know he works there, but he won't confirm his role nor this unwritten policy.

Our dilemma is this, Apple is asking us to remove the promise to plant a tree from our marketing materials. However, it is hard for us to change our marketing materials in this way without changing the concept of A Real Tree. March 9th we talked again and told him that we will brainstorm about the ways in which we could conform to this set of unwritten policies. We asked to have a week to figure out a way to change A Real Tree to conform to these unwritten policies, but have been instead given only until the end of day March 10th. We asked again if we could have a week, then he said that he would talk to his management team. So far the app is still up.

photo source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/oregondot/3134019512/

Thus, we decided to reach out to our fans, customers and supporters, who understand the concept and value of A Real Tree. The more brains behind this, the more likely we will be able to solve the problem before the end of the week. Please leave your suggestions in the comment thread.

We appreciate the opportunity that Apple has given us with the AppStore and we would like to keep the opportunity alive.

At mokugift, we are just a few guys dedicated to helping the United Nations Environment Programme empower more people to easily plant a tree as part of their Billion Tree Campaign. Please help us. As a token of our gratitude, we will plant 100 trees for the first person that gives us the solution that allows us to stay on the App Store.

Special thanks to Darrell for the first suggestion: Apple chops down A Real Tree.

Now working with AffiliateFuture

2009-03-06T16:24:00.000-08:00

We are excited that we have launched 2 affiliate program with AffiliateFuture. If you are already an AffiliateFuture affiliate, please check us out (search for "mokugift").

For those of you who are interested in becoming an affiliate for mokugift to help our planet while making money, please sign up at AffiliateFuture today!

calling all mokugift members in Colorado

2009-02-06T09:44:00.000-08:00

Platte River Kitchens joined mokugift as a corporate customer. They will be at booth 2343 at the Colorado Garden & Home Show. For years, Platte River Kitchens has seen companies give away pens, t-shirts and other mementos that aren't environmentally beneficial. Sure, some may reduce their damage to our environment, but Platte River Kitchens made the move this year to reward customers with mokugift trees that benefit our environment.

The Colorado Garden & Home Show is a non-profit organization providing horticultural scholarships and grants in Colorado.

New Features: Share the Inspiration

2009-02-03T19:43:00.001-08:00

We are excited to announce that we have pushed out a few features that would let you inspire your friends easily and maximize your total positive impact to our beloved planet earth. UNEP's Billion Tree Champaign is calling for everyone globally to Plant a Tree each. To achieve this goal, inspiring others to plant is as important as planting a tree yourself. This is why we built these new features to help you inspire your friends.

Mokugift now shows the total number of people you inspired (3 degrees of friends) and the total number of trees planted by them. We also provide 4 tools for you to share the inspiration with friends (through which mokugift tracks how your inspiration spreads):

1) Adding Mokugift to your email signature

2) Adding mokugift widget onto your profile on

3) Adding mokugift widget to your blog

4) Telling your friends via email

To celebrate the friends that join you in planting trees, for the first tree that each of your inspired friends plants, you will get a free tree. This doubles your impact in the fight against global warming. For every 10 trees planted by people inspired by you (up to 3 degrees away), you will get a free tree. This will further increase your impact in the fight against global warming.

Get your tools and start inspiring our friends today: http://www.mokugift.com/user/inspire

Mokugift Partners with the United Nations Environment Programme in the Goal of Planting 7 Billion Trees Worldwide

2008-12-16T10:50:00.000-08:00

Today we announced our participation in the Billion Tree Campaign. Here is our press release:

SAN FRANCISCO — December 16, 2008 — Mokugift, the online tree gifting service that allows people to plant a real tree, today announced a partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme’s Billion Tree Campaign. The initiative, launched in 2006 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), is calling on citizens globally to plant seven billion trees, roughly one tree per person, by the end of 2009. In support of the Billion Tree Campaign, mokugift pledges to plant five million trees by the end of 2009.
Under the Plant for the Planet: Billion Tree Campaign, individuals, communities, private sector companies, organizations and governments in 164 countries planted over two billion trees during the first 18 months of the campaign. The Billion Tree Campaign supports global environmental solidarity and helps fight one of the most critical challenges of our time – global warming. Mokugift allows those who wish to join this global campaign to plant trees with a simple click of a mouse.

"We are honored to partner with mokugift as part of the UNEP Billion Tree Campaign. Mokugift is taking creative approaches with its online gifting service and iPhone application to help the Billion Tree Campaign achieve a target of seven billion trees. In the spirit of the Billion Tree Campaign, mokugift empowers ordinary people to be part of the solution," said Satinder Binda, Director, UNEP.

As simple as sending an e-card, mokugift allows anyone to plant trees and fight global warming without the need to lift a shovel. Trees are priced at $1/tree and the gifter can select which country the trees are to be planted in. Mokugift trees are planted by award-winning agroforestry partners in 12 tropical countries where tree-planting is most beneficial to the fight against global warming. Partner agroforestry projects focus on enriching the land and creating sustainable lifestyle for local communities.

About United Nations Environment Programme
The Billion Tree Campaign was launched in November 2006 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). It is now recognized as one of the UN’s most successful environmental campaigns reaching several billion people across 166 countries. In twenty three months, people from around the world have pledged to plant 4.2 billion trees. UNEP’s records confirm a staggering 2.5 billion trees have already been planted. Ethiopia has planted over 700 million trees, with a survival rate of 70 per cent. In 2008, Ethiopia is planning to plant another one billion trees. The campaign has exceeded all expectations because of strong grassroots support and well planned global outreach strategies. “Plant for the Planet: The Billion Tree Campaign” stresses the power of partnerships. In its second stage, the campaign plans to plant seven billion trees -- one tree for every living person on the planet. Every tree counts and UNEP counts every tree.

For more information, please visit: http://www.unep.org/billiontreecampaign/

About mokugift
Mokugift enables consumers and organizations to plant trees with a simple click of a mouse for $1/tree. Mokugift, a supporter of the United Nations Environment Programme's Billion Tree Campaign, partners with award-winning agroforestry organizations such as Trees For The Future and Sustainable Harvest International to plant trees in twelve tropical countries fighting deforestation and poverty: Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Burundi, Senegal, Zambia, India, Philippines, and Haiti. Giving a tree is similar to sending an e-card, and recipients can proudly display their trees online at Facebook, MySpace, iGoogle and other popular Web sites. Mokugift enables iPhone and iPod touch owners to plant a tree as easily as they can buy their favorite song. Mokugift plants a tree when iPhone and iPod touch owners purchase 'A Real Tree' application on Apple's iTunes AppStore.
For more information, please visit: http://www.mokugift.com

mokugift quote of the week

2008-12-10T11:17:00.001-08:00

A seed hidden in the heart of an apple is an orchard invisible. ~ Welsh Proverb

Richard Preston: Climbing the world's biggest trees

2008-12-06T20:08:00.000-08:00

This is a must see. Richard Preston gives a presentation about climbing Redwoods. He gives you a sense of being there. Just enough that you want to climb one to complete the experience he started for you.

The presentation was given in Feb 2008 and posted this month. Kishore Balakrishnan thoughtfully suggested this video to us. Thanks for the inspiration Kishore.

Environmental blogs

2008-12-03T13:15:00.000-08:00

A few more news sources have started to pick up news about our 'A Real Tree' iPhone app!
Check out Climate Change Today . The blog is written by Christopher R. Reeves who is an environmental attorney with the Atlanta office of the Finley Firm, P.C. Mr. Reeves’ practice includes environmental and mass tort litigation.

Forest News Watch, a forestry industry newsletter also picked up our story.

Check out their sites, there is some nicely selected content on there.

Plant a Tree on your iPhone or iPod touch

2008-12-03T10:50:00.000-08:00

We are proud to announce that you can plant a tree on iPhone and iPod touch with mokugift's 'A Real Tree' app, available on iTunes AppStore. Our 'A Real Tree' app makes tree-planting as easy as buying your favorite song. With the click of a button, iPhone or iPod touch owners can buy 'A Real Tree' , trees are then planted by partners, who are award-winning tree-planting organizations in 12 countries fighting deforestation and poverty. 'A Real Tree' is priced at $0.99 (in the US).

iPhone Savior, an iPhone news blog, called us up for a quick interview. Check out iPhone Savior's review here. His screenshots are put together better than ours!

On the iTunes AppStore we have 3 reviews! Please check it out.
So far 94 trees have been planted since our silent launch. Today is our first approach to bloggers and mainstream media.

Eco-Friendly and Green Gifts by Cool Moms Rule!

2008-11-26T09:22:00.000-08:00

Mokugift was just featured on Cool Moms Rule! blog, a proud member of the blogher network. Vivien Bruss described mokugift even better than we could. Check out the Eco-Friendly and Green Gifts Ideas post on her blog.

The diversity of ideas and the level of creativity of the different companies is inspiring. Mokugift trees can be a good complement to the products in the guide.

Ecofabulous Gift Guide

2008-11-20T17:48:00.000-08:00

Ecofabulous was kind enough to include us in their holiday gift guide. The gift guide is quite extensive. It covers everything from gifts for rock stars to gifts for couch potatoes and everything between those extremes. After reading this post you won't have any excuse not to give a green gift.

Check out the EcoFabulous Holiday Gift Guide 2008 Issue.

Great reviews about mokugift

2008-11-16T21:30:00.000-08:00

We recently launched a 'frog' on BzzAgent's FrogPond service. It is a service that brings interesting sites in front of very social people that like to express their thoughts and feedback about products and services. We have noticed that some of the people on BzzAgent FrogPond are very articulate and thoughtful. We have received a very warm welcome on FrogPond and we have received some very tangible and actionable feedback. You see those changes in a few weeks.

Chaos Chronicles planted a tree in memory of her mother. We are honored that our service was chosen to help her celebrate the life of her mother.

Natasha on Soothie Ranch also wrote a great review about mokugift.

We try to keep up on all the blogs and twitters that cover mokugift. If we happened to miss you, we appologise. Please feel drop us a comment and we will check out your blog.

our new office!

2008-11-11T08:56:00.000-08:00

We just moved to a new office in Millbrae, California. The move was only about a 1.5 miles (2.4km). The best part is that we are right across the road from the subway station (Millbrae Bay Area Rapid Transit station). I signed up for an EZ-Rider subway card that tops up automatically. It is so convenient. If you are in London or Tokyo it is like the Oyster and Suica cards.

If you are in the neighborhood, feel free to stop by and introduce yourself. We are at 10 Rollins Road - Suite 212A, Millbrae, California 94030

Vote for mokugift!

2008-11-10T13:37:00.000-08:00

Open Web Awards is the only multilingual international online voting competition that covers major innovations in web technology. Through an online nominating and voting process, the Open Web Awards recognizes and honors the top achievements in 26 categories.

Make mokugift a Open Web Award winner. More publicity for mokugift means that more people will help our planet! THANKS!

Submit your email in the box below to vote for mokugift:

mokugift mentioned on TMCNet

2008-11-10T10:52:00.000-08:00

Stefani Viscusi on the Green Technology blog over at TMCNet mentioned mokugift's rewards programs. TMCNet is the world's argest telecom and technology community. This has been a great way for us to reach out to phone companies. Phone companies send out paper bills that cost over $1 each in postage, labor and paper. They could easily use mokugift to reward consumers for choosing paperless billing. In an economic downturn, it is creative approaches like these that will help companies and the environment.

We started mokugift to show that acheiving business goals be given equal priority to helping the environment.

mokugift on BzzAgent frogpond

2008-11-03T10:44:00.000-08:00

We have been so busy with our head down into our work that we forgot to blog about what we are up to.

Today we launched a 'frogpond' on BzzAgent. BzzAgent is an online community that describes itself as:
'Basically, you and your opinions build the Frogpond while you explore new things online and get to recommend them to friends and the rest of the world.'

A very astute member pointed out that we haven't blogged since August. Our bad.

Check out mokugift on frogpond here

branding and the environment

2008-08-13T13:53:00.000-07:00

If you've been watching our mokugift rewards page you will see that Branding Strategy Insider is new on our 'As Seen On' section. Branding Strategy Insider helps marketing oriented leaders and professionals build strong brands. They walk the talk. Brad, their Chief Brand Strategist, is on to his second Prius. Thanks to Derrick for linking to us from their blog, a AdAge Power 150 blog. It is a great read to get you thinking about your brand on a daily basis from new angles every day.

Powerfeedback

2008-08-11T21:05:00.000-07:00

We are excited to announce that Powerfeedback is now offering mokugift rewards as an option to market research customers. Scott, Powerfeedback's CEO, announced on his tumblr blog this a few days ago.

Scott has a ton of creative ideas and enthusiasm. Our brains are still processing some of the ideas.

image: from flickr by Gaetan Lee
creative commons

mokugift rewards program

2008-06-23T14:42:00.000-07:00

Today we launched the mokugift rewards program. It is an incentives service for businesses that want to give customers a meaningful and effective reward.

According to Performics, 83% of Americans would choose products and services with environmental benefits over non-environmental alternatives.

According to the Natural Marketing Institute, 85% of Americans care about the environment. Mokugift rewards was designed to give businesses to reach more than just extremely 'green' segments. Commonly overlooked segments include the Conventionals and the Drifters. NMI defines these segments as:

DRIFTERS (25% of US population)—while their intentions may be good, DRIFTERS follow trends when it’s easy and affordable. They are currently quite engaged in green purchasing behaviors.
CONVENTIONALS (19% of US population)—pragmatists who embrace LOHAS behavior when they believe they can make a difference, but are primarily focused on being very careful with their resources and doing the “right” thing because it will save them money.

Explore mokugift rewards for your business.

Recycle Bank pays you to recycle

2008-05-30T14:01:00.000-07:00

RecycleBank rewards consumers for recycling. Consumers get points and can redeem those points for coupons and discounts. They help municipalities reduce their garbage dump costs while also helping the environment. It is a win-win concept.

We have partnered with RecycleBank to offer a 2 for 1 coupon for mokugift trees.

We Love NBC's Green Is Universal

2008-05-30T13:55:00.000-07:00

We are pleased to announce that we have partnered with NBC's Green Is Universal initiative. You may have seen the Green Is Universal logo while watching your favorite NBC shows. We highly recommend checking it out. The site offers high-quality environmental blog content, resources and a message board.

You can find mokugift on their site in the 'Good Green Fun' section.

Making a difference every day.

2007-12-10T15:25:00.000-08:00

Vanessa is a blogger and a journalist at a major Canadian newspaper called the National Post.
She has taken on the challenge to "Spend each day, for an entire calendar year, doing one thing that betters the environment." This is definately inspiration by leading or as Ghandi would say 'be the change you want to see in the world'. Vanessa keeps each change going on for the rest of the year, so its not just a one day aberration. Check out her blog at http://greenasathistle.com/

Mention in the Bivings Report

2007-12-06T07:30:00.000-08:00

The Bivings Report (TBR) is a blog with news, insight, research and analysis on the web-based communications industry. Their consultants have put a lot of thought into their posts. A wide range of staff from developers to strategists post on their blog. We were lucky enough to be covered on their post about This Season's Tech-Inspired Philanthropic Christmas Gifts.

webware mentions mokugift!

2007-12-06T07:23:00.000-08:00

We are a bit late on mentioning this one, but better late than never. Webware wrote a blog post about holiday gift recommendations. Webware is a Cnet blog about the latest and greatest in consumer internet services.

mokugift mentioned on ReadyMade

2007-12-06T07:09:00.001-08:00

ReadyMade is one of our favorite magazines. We didn't even know that they had a blog. This world is full of great surprises. ReadyMade is a fun magazine for people that like to make stuff. Pick up a copy, and they will get your creative juices flowing. Here is the post in ReadyMade Blog about mokugift.

moku-coins: the currency of mokugift

2007-11-28T23:20:00.000-08:00

Some of you have noticed that we launched moku-coins. moku-coins are mokugifts currency that can be used to purchase eTrees.

We created moku-coins to help you save money and time. So instead of going to Amazon checkout and using your credit card for each eTree purchase, you can just hit send and use moku-coins from your account. We are pricing eTrees at 1 moku-coin for 1 eTree. You can still use your credit card for each eTree purchase, but purchasing moku-coins also saves you money. Buying 10 moku-coins saves you enough to buy an extra eTree. You can save up to 25% when you buy moku-coins in large volumes.

Please tell us what you think.

mokugift mentioned in San Francisco Chronicle

2007-11-28T23:08:00.000-08:00

Ellen Lee of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote a story about online gifts . It is a great article that includes many different view points. We were happy to be interviewed and mentioned in the article that appeared on the front page. They used an image of our rabbit. The rabbit is nameless, so feel free to suggest a name.

The story was picked up by The Columbus Dispatch also!

eTree opening experience on YouTube

2007-11-24T15:07:00.000-08:00

We uploaded a video to YouTube to let more people know how the eTree receiving experience goes. Check it out:

Mokugift Team gets 1,000 eTrees!

2007-11-20T15:26:00.000-08:00

Everyone did such a great job in order to launch mokugift right on schedule. I'm so excited about the launch!

I've just bought the team 1,000 eTrees to celebrate, and also a kick start for mokugift.com!

mokugift is launched!

2007-11-20T10:35:00.000-08:00

We are proud to announce the launch of mokugift, an environmentally beneficial online gifting service.

You can use mokugift to celebrate the holiday season by sending eTrees. For every eTree purchased, mokugift will plant a tree in the real world. We have partnered with Sustainable Harvest International, a non-profit organization that plants trees in tropical deforested regions while empowering the local communities about education about sustainable agriculture.

When you receive an eTree it gets placed on your e-Island webapge on mokugift.com You can also embed the e-Island onto other sites that let you paste code.

Have fun and please tell us what you think.