The Red, White, and Green

Scrambling for a last-minute present for Father’s Day? I could offer up a host of green gift suggestions, like a Nalgene BPA-free reusable water bottle customized with a photo skin of you and your dad; or a six-pack of beer from his favorite sustainable brewery. Both are great, but here’s the thing: The most appreciated — not to mention sustainable — gift you can offer this Sunday isn’t something I can add to a Top 10 Eco-Friendly Father’s Day Gifts list.

No, it’s something harder to come by in the tech-crazed, never-stop-for-a-moment world we live in, and that’s time. Undistracted time. (With you, of course.)

That’s why I’m loving the Offlining campaign, which will officially launch this Father’s Day. Founders Mark DiMassimo and Eric Yaverbaum are urging fathers to go BlackBerry/iPhone/laptop-free for the day and spend a little old-fashioned quality time with their families.

DiMassimo and Yaverbaum are marketing gurus by trade, so it’s no surprise that the ads and e-cards promoting this No-Device Day and others to come are total genius. Check them out (above, and below):

Inspired to go beyond Father’s Day? Take the Offlining Pledge and commit to 10 no-device dinners between now and Thanksgiving Day 2010. I, for one, will be signing up, though no thumb-twisting will be involved: I’ve been BlackBerry-free since Earth Day.

–Jennifer Grayson

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