CO₂ Responsible Service:
Taking Root

Taking Root's Carbon Footprint

To calculate its footprint, Taking Root measured the following business activities:

• Work related flights by members of the Taking Root Team.
• The electricity consumed for office operations in Canada and Nicaragua.
• The consumption of all fossil fuels for company vehicles in Canada and Nicaragua.

2011 report

In 2011, Taking Root's social reforestation activities generated 33,684 carbon offsets, and its business activities had a carbon footprint of 13.38 tonnes of CO₂. This means that Taking Root released an average of 0.397 kilograms of CO₂ for each carbon offset it produced in 2011. That's like driving a medium-sized car for 1.5 km.

Compared to last year

In 2010, Taking Root generated 12,342 carbon offsets and emitted 9.39 tonnes of CO₂, which means an average footprint of 0.643 kilograms of CO₂ per 2010 offset. This means that the amount of emissions released per carbon offset generated has reduced by 63.2%!

Next steps

With this report, Taking Root can identify ways to further reduce its footprint before offsetting its unavoidable emissions.

See how Taking Root reduces its footprint

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How Taking Root reduces its footprint

The first step in being CO₂ Responsible is to take actions to reduce your carbon footprint. Each action counts!

Taking Root does this by adopting environmentally conscious practices into its daily activities.

• We fly only when necessary;
• We wake, bicycle or take public transit to and from work;
• We print double sided and only when necessary;
• We print on recycled paper with waterless ink;
• We recycle all paper, metal, plastic, glass and ink cartridges;
• We support local businesses;
• We buy organic, fair-trade coffee, sugar, etc.;
• We conduct business with companies that share our sustainable development values;
• We buy or find used furniture and appliances whenever possible;
• We organize our events in an environmentally responsable manner;
• We engage our staff in sustainable actions.

Next, Taking Root decided to take responsibility for its inevitable emissions by purchasing social reforestation carbon offsets generated by its Limay Community Carbon Project.

To find out more about Taking Root, visit: www.takingroot.org

Visit the Limay Community Carbon Project

If you like Taking Root then tell your friends!

Limay Community Carbon Project

The Limay Community Carbon Project is a community-based reforestation initiative that works with small-scale farming families in Nicaragua to restore ecosystems, improve livelihoods and tackle climate change. The project is located in one of the region's most critical watersheds, which feeds directly into the Estero Real, one of Central America's most important estuaries.

The project is developed according to the Plan Vivo Standard, a system that offers incentives to farmers who agree to manage their land in a way that provides an ecological service, such as planting and maintaining trees to absorb carbon.

The Limay Community Carbon Project is developed by Taking Root, a non-profit organization, based in Montreal (Canada).

If you like the Limay Community Carbon Project, then tell your friends!

Project Components: Ecosystems

One of the three main aims of Taking Root's project is to protect and restore ecosystems through reforestation. Here are some of the ways this is done.

Preserving ecosystems

Forest preservation: In order to protect other forests from being cut down for farmland, Taking Root only reforests land that isn't being used. Also, specific trees are planted for the farmers to use as firewood and timber.

Air quality: Trees improve air quality by retaining humidity, absorbing carbon and producing oxygen.

Waterways: The trees help capture water in the dry season and minimize flooding and landslides in the rainy season. They also help regulate the water that flows into the nearby Estero Real, one of Central America's most important estuaries in terms of biodiversity.

Biodiversity: Seeds are collected from a variety of surrounding tree species in order to help strengthen these species. Trees that have been over-logged are also re-introduced. All this new growth rebuilds habitat for local wildlife.

If you like the Limay Community Carbon Project, then tell your friends!

Project Components: Livelihoods

A second core aim of the project is to improve the livelihoods of the participating community members through reforestation.

Improving livelihoods

With over 136 small-scale farmers in 21 communities as of 2012 working to reforest underutilized parts of their land, there are a lot of people involved in every step of the process. Among other things, participants help select the tree species, gather seeds, build nurseries, plant trees, and protect them as they grow.

Incentives are put into place to encourage participation and help farmers at each step of the project.

Interest-free loans: Taking Root provides interest-free loans to help farmers build fencing, clear shrubs and plant the seedlings. This in turn generates many jobs within the community.

Regular payments: Each participating farmer receives guaranteed 'payments for ecosystem services,' which are regular payments over a 10-year period, proportionate to the area of land they reforested and maintain.

Trees for firewood: Specific trees are planted within the project that are meant to be used for firewood or timber, in order to make room for the other trees as they grow. These harvested trees can also be sold locally as another new source of income.

Fuel-efficient cookstoves: Community members receive fuel-efficient cookstoves that use about one-third of the amount of wood. This reduces the pressure on nearby forests and minimizes the time spent gathering wood. The stoves also release far less CO2 and smoke into the air, which is a big health benefit for the women who traditionally spend a great deal of time cooking by the fire.

If you like the Limay Community Carbon Project, then tell your friends!

Project Components: Climate change

The third core aim of the project is to use social reforestation to tackle climate change, a serious global issue that must be addressed.

Mitigating climate change

Preventing emissions: Deforestation accounts for over 17% of global CO₂ emissions - almost as much as all the cars, trucks, boats and planes on the planet combined! By working with communities to preserve forests and prevent further destruction, Taking Root is reducing the amount of CO₂ released into the atmosphere.

Effective carbon pumps: Since about half of a tree's dry weight is made of carbon, trees serves as pumps, pulling CO₂ out of the air and storing it in their plant tissue. Closer to the equator, these trees can grow up to 10 times faster than in northern climates.

Offsetting our footprints: Taking Root develops high quality carbon offsets according to the rigorous Plan Vivo Standard. Buying these offsets is a way for businesses and individuals to take responsibility for their unavoidable greenhouse gas emissions while also helping to improve livelihoods in Central America.

If you like the Limay Community Carbon Project, then tell your friends!

Project Components: Standard

Taking Root proudly follows the Plan Vivo Standard, a system for developing and managing community-based land-use projects with long-term carbon, livelihood and ecosystem benefits.

Plan Vivo is one of the only carbon offset standards developed exclusively for use in community-based projects. Certified projects help support people by improving livelihoods and conserving and restoring local ecosystems. Producing offsets according to these standards requires rigorous measurement, monitoring and third party verification procedures.

Among Plan Vivo's stakeholders and supporters are the Clinton foundation, the United Nations Development Programme, and Rainforest Alliance.

Visit: www.planvivo.org

If you like the Limay Community Carbon Project, then tell your friends!

What is carbon offsetting?

Sometimes known as carbon credits or Verified Emission Reductions, carbon offsets represent the removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, compensating for one's carbon footprint. One carbon offset is equal to the removal of one tonne of CO₂ from the atmosphere. Since wood is approximately 50% carbon by weight, the more trees we plant, the more carbon we remove from the atmosphere.

While recognizing that offsetting is just one step towards curbing carbon emissions, Taking Root offers businesses and individuals worldwide a way to better manage and offset their carbon footprint and help improve the livelihoods of small-scale farmers in developing countries.

Visit the Limay Community Carbon Project

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About CO₂ Responsible

Taking Root has developed the CO₂ Responsible promotional kit to help participating businesses communicate with their customers about their decision to buy social reforestation carbon offsets.

The kit includes use of the CO₂ Responsible emblem (right), which represents a business' dedication to reducing its impact on the environment, and a personalized CO₂ Responsible microsite where customers can find out more about each product or service that has been offset.

Take part

Taking Root invites you to be a part of a movement towards more CO₂ responsible businesses. Take advantage of this powerful educational and promotional kit and demonstrate to your clients that you are making your business more environmentally responsible.

Download the Promo Kit outline for more details.

Don't hesitate to contact us:

Samuel Gervais
Co-Executive Director and Co-founder
T : +1 (514) 277-1700