PORT TOWNSEND — The Food Co-op is sponsoring an event today to provide information about reducing carbon emissions while preserving local forests.
“This program gives the local community a chance to protect land from development while supporting our neighbors,” said the co-op’s outreach manager, Brwyn Griffin.
“This gives them an alternative to selling their land or having to log it or develop it in order to make ends meet.”
Representatives of the Northwest Natural Resource Group, a Port Townsend-based forest stewardship nonprofit, will be at the front door at the co-op at 414 Kearney St. in Port Townsend from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. to discuss the NW Neutral program.
The co-op and the resource group will offer consumers a chance to purchase carbon offsets for $20, which can be given as gifts.
The certificates, which represent 1 ton of carbon, are part of a larger purchase by the co-op representing 60 tons of carbon and are connected to specific parcels of land that have committed to maintain their forested state for 100 years.
The land, which has been placed into trust by the resource group, can be sold with a lien that requires the preservation of the forest portion of the land and must be followed by anyone purchasing that land.
The Washington State Climate Action Team estimates that approximately 25,000 acres of forestland in the state are lost to conversion each year and that the trend is accelerating, especially in growing areas like the Quimper Peninsula.
The Food Co-op is the first consumer cooperative in the Pacific Northwest to purchase the forest offsets to offer to its owner-members, helping them to reduce their annual carbon footprint.
If this experiment is successful, it could be a model for other co-ops according to Griffin.
“The more offsets purchased, the more our community will protect local forest lands from development while at the same time assisting local landowners with their investment in our environment,” Griffin said.
“The service that trees provide to remove carbon dioxide from the air has gained more attention as climate change has become a global threat,” said NW Neutral manager Diane Moody, an event co-sponsor.
“Forests that are well-managed can keep the carbon locked in their wood for multiple generations.”
For more information, visit http://nnrg.org/NW-Neutral.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
