On the Road to "Carbon Neutral"
by Lindsay Dozoretz

Melting glaciers, rising sea levels, unpredictable and extreme weather, massive extinctions—all around us are the visible signs of a world altered by the cumulative processes of global climate change. While society is slowly waking up to this reality, our global dependence on fossil fuel-based energy continues to increase, despite rising oil prices and the growing viability of alternative technologies. This means that in the face of rising awareness around the causes and effects of global climate change, as a society we continue to pour thousands of tons of carbon into the atmosphere every day. The time has come to take urgent and meaningful action, both collectively and individually.

Seeds of Change has always held true to a strong ideal of sustainability in agricultural practices, and, as a company, has made environmentally-sound choices whenever possible, such as printing our catalogs on recycled paper. However, in light of today’s emerging environmental crisis, we understand that this may not be enough. Each of us needs to re-examine our ecological footprint on this earth in greater detail, and then recognize that even in the absence of national policy mandates, we have the ability to take action on our own to cut our carbon addiction within our own lives, our own businesses, and our own communities. We can do this right where we are, and by taking initiative and sharing our experience, hopefully we can inspire others to do the same. 

This is why Seeds of Change has decided to look deeper into our own practices, with the goal of reducing our carbon footprint as a business down to zero, otherwise known as going "carbon neutral." We are not alone in doing this; many other individuals, businesses and even municipalities are seeking ways to reduce their carbon footprint. Our thinking is that the more of us that are engaged in this process, the greater our collective impact will be, and the sooner we can reconcile human action with the needs of the earth.  

A key component of the Seeds of Change mission—promoting sustainable, organic agriculture—in effect advocates for a food system that is less carbon-dependent. While this is true, we also realize that there is an ecological footprint that supports that mission, upholding our operations and making us able to do the things we do. Essentially, while our goal may be mostly carbon-free, we are emitting carbon in getting there. 

What does it mean to go carbon neutral?
It means analyzing every component of Seeds of Change from a climate-oriented perspective—our products, our operations, our waste-stream—in order to determine just how much carbon we emit and why. This includes everything from the energy we use at our administrative offices to the gasoline burned in employee commutes; from the resources that go into the printing of our catalogs to the fuel that runs our farm tractor. Once we have an understanding of the materials and processes that create our carbon footprint, we can begin to address ways to reduce (and eventually eliminate) carbon emissions altogether on a company-wide basis.

How do we reduce our carbon footprint? 
There are many ways to achieve this goal, and the diversity of our carbon footprint allows us to be creative in exploring many different carbon reduction options. Generally, we will abide by the mantra of “efficiency first,” and then pursue both renewable energy and purchased carbon offsets. We recognize that "going carbon neutral" will involve employment of all of these strategies. 

In the coming weeks we will be having a comprehensive energy audit at the Seeds of Change Research Farm facilities to determine both the obvious and the not-so-obvious ways that we can pursue energy efficiency on the farm. To learn about ways to implement efficiency measures in your home or business, visit www.rmi.org/sitepages/pid206.php.

Alternatives & Renewables
To push us further along we are also examining areas in which we might be able to incorporate carbon alternatives and renewable energy into the way we do things. This will allow us to directly replace carbon-emitting energy with sustainable sources, creating healthy closed loop systems, and modeling the energy foundations of the future. To move in this direction, we are exploring the incorporation of on-site renewable energy such as wind and solar power at the Research Farm, as well as implementing plans to make and use biodiesel in the tractor and other farm equipment. In addition to these initiatives, we are seeking other ways to conserve resources, such as encouraging web-based ordering instead of total reliance on our paper catalogs.

Carbon Offsets
There is an emergent carbon trading industry wherein energy consumers can offset their carbon emissions by purchasing, through a carbon trader, an equivalent number of carbon offsets. This allows energy users to account for those emissions that they cannot eliminate through efficiency or sustainable energy by effectively paying somebody else to do so on their behalf. This is a great way for individuals, companies, or even nations to balance their carbon contribution by funding carbon-reduction programs elsewhere, usually in the form of reforestation, methane capture, or renewable energy projects. For more information on purchasing carbon offsets, you can visit the websites of carbon traders such as www.carbonfund.org, www.terrapass.com or www.nativeenergy.com.

However, we believe offset purchasing should be a last priority, done only after making the full effort to reduce one’s carbon footprint as much as possible, or as a transitionary measure to account for carbon emissions while in the process of implementing more long-term changes. Then, for the emissions that we cannot avoid, we can invest in supporting other initiatives that do reduce carbon, and decrease the collective carbon footprint. 

Look for updates on this project and others in future newsletters. 

Lindsay Dozoretz
Seeds of Change Research Farm Intern