What is a carbon footprint?

Carbon offset programs, such as the conservation of a mature forest, is a great way to neutralize your carbon emissions.

One Tree Planted has teamed up with Nature Conservancy and their recently conserved Burnt Mountain Natural Area to offer a diversified way for individuals to combat their carbon footprint. This 5,408-acre forest will remain “forever wild” as this project helps create an 11,000-acre block of continuous forest that will be protected in perpetuity. This project aims at improving water quality, protecting biodiversity and forest conservation.

IMPROVING WATER QUALITY

Burnt Mountain Natural Area hosts important headwater streams that provide drinking water to approximately 250,000 people. The Calavale Brook restoration project is further improving water quality and instream habitat for native brook trout and a variety of other fish species.

PROTECT BIODIVERSITY

Over twenty-five species of neo-tropical migratory songbirds breed in the Burnt Mountain forest, as does wildlife such as moose and black bear that are dependent on this intact forest to find food and mates. TNC management of this land under the “forever wild” easement will ensure that old growth once again exists in northern Vermont.

FOREST CONSERVATION

The Burnt Mountain Project is the largest carbon offset project in the state of Vermont, and it is estimated that it will remove 236,772 tCO2e from the atmosphere in the first decade—the equivalent of taking 38,000 cars off the road. Revenue from the carbon will support additional forest conservation in Vermont.

EAT LESS MEAT

Overall, animal-based foods typically have a higher carbon footprint than plant-based foods. Lamb and cheese, for example, both emit more than 20 kilograms of CO2. And while poultry and pork do have lower footprints they're still higher than most plant-based food items, at 6 and 7 kg CO2 respectively.

Most GHG emissions result from land use change, and from processes at the farm stage, this is especially true for the large emitters. Farm-stage emissions include processes such as the application of fertilizers, both organic and synthetic; and enteric fermentation (the production of methane in the stomachs of cattle). Combined, land use and farm-stage emissions account for more than 80% of the footprint for most foods. Notably, the carbon footprint of a vegetarian diet is about half that of a meat-lover’s diet

So, how can you reduce your food's carbon footprint? Here are a couple of ideas:.

• Opt for vegetarian and vegan proteins such as beans, lentils, tofu, tempeh and corn to replace meat, cheese and eggs.
  
• Make sure you are getting enough iron and zinc by including lots of whole grains, beans and a variety of vegetables
  
• Invest in some vegetarian or vegan cookery books and have fun experimenting
  
• Don’t rely on vegetarian processed foods.

BUY ORGANIC

Organic farming methods for both crops and animals have a much lower impact on the environment than conventional methods. Organic-certified farms must use natural methods for soil fertilisation, weed prevention and pest control. Antibiotics and growth hormones cannot be used to raise food animals, and there are standards of care which prevent cruelty to livestock. Genetically-modified and irradiated foods cannot be labelled organic and its better to avoid these processes which are not proven to be safe for us or the food chain.

Organic food is better for you too! Crops are grown in fertile soils that are full of nutrients – and these end up in your food and then in you. Livestock are able to roam the fields and eat their natural food – grass – rather than being force-fed corn. And this leads to a much less fatty meat that keeps your heart healthier.

You can help stop our reliance on fossil fuels by switching to sustainable energy today like solar power or wind power.

Fossil fuels supplied about 63 percent of all the electricity generated by the U.S. last year, according to the EPA. (Natural gas contributed about 35 percent, while coal didn’t lag far behind, at 27 percent.) Nuclear energy provided an additional 20 percent of our country’s power.

Yet green energy contributed only 17 percent of the electricity generated across the country in 2018. That’s despite a booming green energy sector — with renewables slated to become cheaper than fossil fuels as early as 2020, by some accounts.

Purchasing green energy can help each of us reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with our electricity use. Each year, an average household in the U.S. adds about 16,000 pounds of CO2 into the atmosphere — exclusively from its electricity consumption. After the transportation industry, the electricity sector is the second-largest driver of global warming in the United States overall, contributing about 29 percent of annual greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Coal, on the other hand, releases 1 to 4 pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent (the standard unit for measuring global warming) per kilowatt-hour — the most of any fossil fuel. Nearly 100 different air pollutants have been found in the emissions spewing from coal-fired power plants, including lead and formaldehyde. A number of those are linked to chronic diseases, like asthma and cancer, as well as birth defects and premature death.

We can plant more trees, which are natural carbon absorbers (a mature tree can absorb up to 48lbs of carbon a year).