Your Climate Positive Action Update
January 2024 EcoCart Update
We appreciate that some of you have opted into the carbon offset program. The EcoCart calculation assigns a dollar value to your order to offset the estimated effort it will take to get your order produced and shipped, not just the transport.
The program is 3rd party certified and, unlike a lot of other programs out there, these monies go directly to a project of our choice, the McCloud River Project 20 miles from Mt. Shasta.
Your orders have offset 116,846 lbs of carbon so far, and the biggest contributions came during Earth Month last April and also during the weekend after Thanksgiving 2022 and 2023 when I matched contributions. EcoCart has provided to me a few statistics to help put this into context.
116,846 lbs of carbon offset is equivalent to
- growing over 3,000 tree seedlings for a decade, or
- sequestering 231 acres of US forests for a year, or
- fully charging 23.6 million smart phones, or
- offsetting nearly 500 miles driven by the average gasoline-driven vehicle, or
- providing electricity to over 37 US homes for a year, or
- keeping 0.05 wind turbines running for a year.
The images below illustrate how these statistics are reckoned.
Here is a link to the original essay I wrote to explain the program: "What is EcoCart and Why it Matters". The essay covers alignment with the UN's Sustainable Development Goals and brief sections on how calculations are made, EcoCart's certification partners, and the program we've earmarked in McCloud 80 miles north of us.
If everyone opted in, our business would be technically "carbon neutral". If I matched every contribution, I'm advised that the result would be "climate positive". Not everyone is in the position to opt in, and I am not yet at the point where I can afford to match every contribution, however, we're making some progress, and I thought you'd like to see what's been accomplished so far. I'll write again next Spring after our Earth month campaign.
116 years ago Helen Keller wrote, " Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much". Environmental news is often grim and overwhelming, however, I hope that these nascent results and Ms. Keller's words give you heart and encouragement. - Liz Tagami
