Supporting Agroforestry, Biodiversity, & Conservation through Carbon Offsets
Rather than purchasing carbon offsets through Gold Standard or one of the countless other organizations that offer carbon offsets, Rain Organica is instead donating to Sustainable Harvest International to offset carbon emissions generated during 2021.
Why the change?
Frankly, carbon offsets sometimes feel a little bit shady. Why? Because even though the purchases are made from a charitable site (like goldstandard.org), the companies receiving the money from the carbon offset purchase are typically for profit.
And, as the owner of a for profit business, sustainable practices... even "extreme" sustainability practices... should be considered business expenses, not opportunity to maximize profits by inviting others to pay for carbon offsets.
Why Sustainable Harvest International?
This non-profit has boots on the ground throughout Central America teaching farmers valuable skills in agroforestry enabling families to:
- increase their crop production so that they're no longer living at poverty level and can feed themselves
- increase biodiversity... SHI focuses on using natural pest control (including plants that naturally deter pests like the tropical equivalent of marigold and chrysanthemum), eliminating the use of chemical fertilizers, using synergy between the crops grown (agroforestry) to provide natural weed control
- by training farmers in these sustainable agricultural practices, SHI's efforts prevent slash-and-burn practices
Find out more about SHI in this podcast episode.
How's Rain Organica calculating carbon offsets?
For 2021, Rain Organica is using the metric of $25 per tonne (that's metric ton = 2204.62 pounds or 1000 kg) of carbon emitted.
Just to quickly recap how carbon's calculated around here... here are the assumptions:
- the dirtiest energy source possible is calculated for running things like lights, the laptop used to create this post :), and blenders, etc.
- gas is used as the energy source for making product batches ('cause gas is used to make any batch that needs to be heated, so all the lotions and creams including the cream cleanser)
- 8 liters of water is evaporated per batch (this is an overestimate)
- that 8 L of water is heated from 20C to 100C (boiling) this to is an overestimate
- shipping of ingredients, packaging, and anything else (shipping supplies, etc.) to Rain Organica's workshop is assumed to travel from Maine or Miami (about 2200 miles) via the dirtiest form of travel available
- all outgoing packages (to you :) is assumed to travel from Rain Organica's workshop back to Maine (or Miami) via the dirtiest form of travel available
phew! So, after crunching those numbers and getting a value in tonnes of carbon dioxide emitted during all those processes (Rain Organica's 2021 carbon footprint), the tonnes of CO2 emitted was multiplied by $25 and then a check was written (okay, it was all electronic via that donate button on SHI's website) to send over cash to support a cause that works to prevent and reverse deforestation across Central America.
About the Author
Brandy's a formulation scientist and self-proclaimed health geek who loves hiking, gardening, bird-watching, and body boarding.
Her struggle with acne during her teens and 20s led to a holistic and healthy approach to skincare, embracing skin as an organ to be loved and cared for rather than a canvas to wage war on.
Since 2008, she's been developing all-in-one products for a simple routine at home, & Rain Organica started when her backpacking friends asked for a portable skincare routine to keep their skin healthy & happy on and off the trails.
You can try Rain Organica for yourself with The Essentials Kit, a complete skincare routine in just 3 steps.
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