There are all sorts of things we can do individually to be environmentally friendly, such as recycling, not wasting electricity in our homes by leaving lights on in rooms we are not using, taking shorter showers, and saying no to plastic bags by bringing our reusables. However, there are times when we are helpless to the carbon emissions we produce. For example, if you drive an electric vehicle, but when you charge it up, the electricity is coming from a power plant that resorts to burning fossil fuels. Or maybe you don’t have time to take a boat across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe from America, but you have to go there for work, so you have no choice but to fly. It’s situations like these that can leave us feeling discouraged and full of anxiety due to the feeling of urgency in the face of our climate emergency. As a person living in a first world nation it’s difficult to ponder how you can help with reforestation.
Fortunately, there are ways to offset our carbon footprint. Offsets can be bought, and the money is used in projects that cancel out carbon emissions, such as installing renewables or planting trees. One such carbon offset program, run by the organization Health in Harmony, helps you counter your emissions through reforestation while helping rain forest communities access healthcare at the same time! Health and Harmony, a non-profit organization that began 13 years ago, works with rainforest workers in Borneo and Madagascar to get them to quit illegal logging and plant trees instead. It does so by providing them with an economical alternative.
When people purchase personal carbon-offsets online, Health and Harmony use the money to aid these impoverished rural communities. The locals of these tropical rainforests, some of the most valuable ecosystems on the planet, tend to turn to illegal logging for money to feed and take care of their families and themselves. If we lose these ecosystems, it could place the goal of overcoming our impact on climate forever out of our reach. Rainforests are the Fort Knox of carbon storage and sanctuaries of biodiversity.
The problem is, struggling locals have no choice but to slash and burn these forests down for agriculture or result in illegal logging because it’s the only way to make money. This is where Health in Harmony steps in. It offers people around the world the opportunity to buy tropical tree seedlings for these locals living around the rainforest to make money by planting and then tending to them.
And the organization doesn’t only focus on the health of the planet; it makes sure the individuals who are working with them are healthy too! The non-profit invests in reforestation and the healthcare of the people, making it happen. Meaning, part of your carbon offset purchase provides healthcare as well as sustainable agriculture training. By canceling out your carbon footprint, you are also helping people stay healthy and educating them!
During the first decade of the program, Health in Harmony saw an achieved 90% reduction in logging activities within households and regrowth of 52,000 acres of rainforest. It also saw a 67% decline in infant mortality among the communities participating.
Kinari Webb, founder of Health In Harmony, said:
This basically tells you the communities are doing better, they’re healthier and happier, and at the same time the forest is protected and in fact regrowing.
Webb says that 95 trees will offset the carbon emitted by an average American. Meanwhile, those trees will ensure the survival of some of the most biodiverse places on the planet. Anyone can donate however much they want. One seedling cost $4, and five seedlings can sequester a metric ton of carbon from the atmosphere over a decade. A monthly donation of approximately $31.00 a month is enough to make the average person a carbon-neutral citizen.
Webb added:
We’re also very excited about companies doing this, companies not only interested in offsetting their carbon for travel but also, say, the amount of data storage carbon. It’s not just about looking good to your customers, although it certainly does look good to customers, right? It’s about a long-term investment in the sustainability of your own life, of our whole society, and of your company, because if we continue on the track that we’re currently going down, no one’s company is going to be doing well.
The organization says the sites it’s been working on have an 80% survival rate over ten years. At the moment, it is working with communities in Borneo Indonesia and Madagascar, but it hopes to expand to Brazil’s Amazon region this year. It aims to plant over a million trees over the next five years with the help of everyone around the world. You no longer have to ponder reforestation, now you can actively participate!
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