the dirty details

Plant Trees

How it Works: "Trees act as a sink for carbon dioxide by fixing carbon during photosynthesis and storing the excess as biomass."

The Stats: Did you know that urban trees in the US sequester 22.8 million tons of carbon per year? Sounds like a lot, but it's only enough to offset 5 days of our country's emissions.

Rule of Thumb: 1 cubic meter of wood absorbs just under 1 ton of carbon dioxide.

Best Trees for the Job:

Maple
Oak
Walnut
Sweetgum

Direct Air Capture

What is it?: DAC is the capturing of carbon dioxide from ambient air in the atomosphere.

Why it's Needed: CO2 is present in our air at concentrations of 405.5 parts per million (and rising!). The reduction of emissions is no longer enough. The carbon must be captured!

Biggest DAC Companies:

Climeworks (Europe)
Carbon Engineering (Canada)
Global Thermostat (United States)

Types of DAC:

liquid + storage
liquid + usage
solid + storage
solid + usage

Individual Practices

The Stats: Did you know the average American household emits 49 metric tons of carbon annually?

Ways to Change That:

Eat lower on the food chain. Every time we eat red meat, 6.61 lbs of CO2 are emitted. Opt for vegetables and poultry which have a minute footprint.
Make fewer, but longer domestic and international flights. Every 1,000 miles in the air emits almost 1/2 a ton of CO2.
Avoid driving aggressively. It consumes 40% more fuel.
Bike or walk whenever possible.

Geologic Injection

What Makes a Good CO2 Storage Tank?:

extent
storage capacity
permeability

"Basalt formations in the US meet ALL of these requirements."

How Does it Work?: Whereas DAC is best for capturing non-point sources, injection takes carbon from point sources. Once captured, it is dissolved in water and forced into underground rock formations like basalt. It forms carbonate rock within a few years, now trapped for millennia.

Regenerative Agriculture

What is it?: Regenerative agriculture is the practice of keeping carbon in the soil (as opposed to the atmosphere).

The Stats: Did you know that soil carbon represents 25% of natural carbon solutions? Let's hop on it.

Ways to Keep Carbon in the Soil:

Practice no-till farming.
Diversify crops.
Raise crops and livestock together, rotating them regularly.
Avoid leaving the soil bare.
Do not endorse or add to deforestation.