VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Many are celebrating Earth Day and are making contributions to protect the environment. Checkered Flag, a Hampton Roads car dealership, is starting at the root with hopes of growing a greener future.
“We want to show our customers and our city that we want to give more,” said Marquis Grayes, a team leader with Audi Virginia Beach.
Grayes said they want to help protect the environment. They’re doing so with its latest campaign ‘Keys for Trees.’
“Checkered Flag is offering customers an opportunity to be able to kind of erase their carbon footprint,” he said.
The company hopes to plant 75 trees in Virginia for free for every new car sold. They have dealerships through the 757, with most of their locations based in Virginia Beach.
“The biggest thing we sell is automobiles which emit a lot of carbon," Grayes said. "So, we tried to think of a way of being able to erase the kind of carbon that we output.”
The initiative started April 15 and will continue throughout the rest of the month.
“More and more people are looking for ways to reduce carbon emissions and lessen the impact their choices have on the environment,” said Checkered Flag President Steve Snyder. “With Keys for Trees, Checkered Flag customers can now buy the car they’ve been looking for and know they are making a positive impact on Virginia’s environment. That’s a win-win.”
“We just don’t see many dealerships or many programs able to allow customers to be a little more environmentally friendly,” he said.
Grayes said this is a great way to help offset carbon emissions. They even added green checkered flags at area dealerships to let people know their push to preserve the environment.
“We care at a dealership level," he said. "It’s not just about us selling cars or servicing vehicles.”
Checkered Flag has already pledged to plant 10,000 trees. The goal is to plant 30,000.
The trees will be planted in Virginia’s George Washington, Jefferson and Wayne national forests with the help of The Global Improvement Group, which to date has planted over 3 million trees in 42 different countries. The organization calculates that 75 trees will create enough fresh air to offset the average car owner’s carbon emissions.
Following the two-week launch, buyers can choose to offset the carbon emissions of the vehicle they are purchasing for a one-time fee.