Hoping in the car for a short drive to the grocery store? Did you leave expired yogurt in the container that’s now on it’s way to the landfill? Boiling water over the stove? Buying a cotton shirt from an industrial farm?
All of these normal, everyday activities contribute to climate change. There are a variety of gases that warm the atmosphere, with the principle three being carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. Each is more powerful than the last. For example, nitrous oxide is 298x more powerful at warming the atmosphere than carbon dioxide. This is released from poor agricultural practices such as manure pools and nitrogen fertilizer use.
‍
It’s hard not to emit greenhouse gases in this day and age. Temptations are all around us. The good news is that changes are coming as renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, supported by battery power will proliferate the grid in the coming decades. The costs are dropping, efficiency is rising, and it’s becoming a norm. As EV’s and renewable energy replace the carbon emitting sources of today, we need to pick up the slack in hard to mitigate aspects of society too.
‍
This is why we take a portfolio approach to our Colorado-based carbon offset projects. Emissions come from multiple streams of modern society, especially places that are hard for any individual to account for, and we mirror that in our strategy. We work with projects such as avoided grassland conversion, landfill methane capture, methane seep and capture re-use, and incentivizing the adoption of regenerative farming practices. By supporting an entire ecosystem of projects, we’re leveraging our impact and helping educate the people of Colorado on ways they can help.
‍
At the Colorado Carbon Fund, we envision a carbon neutral future. By combining modern technology and new yet ancient ways of managing our landscapes, we can stop the release of more