An Open-Source Incomplete Pocket Field Guide To Carbon Offsets and Other Ideas Vol 01-2

Pg.
An
Open-Source,1
Incomplete2
Pocket3
Field Guide4
to Carbon Offsets 5
(and Other Ideas6)
Vol. 017
Synthesized by the Superorganisms of 8
An Open-Source,1 Incomplete2 Pocket3 Field Guide4 to Carbon Offsets5 (And Other Ideas6) Vol. 17 Synthesized by the Superorganisms of Seed8
Table of Contents
1 Foreword by the Superorganisms of Seed 3
2 Peer Reviewers 8
3 The Basics: Climate Change 101 9
4 How We Did It 28
Step 1: Decide What Sustainability Means to You 29

Step 2: Conduct a Carbon Footprint 34
Step 3: Reduce Your Carbon Footprint 41
Step 4: Offset Your Carbon Footprint 48
Step 5: Invest in Other Areas of Environmental Impact 60
Step 6: Peer Review and Iterate 68
5 Get in Touch 75
Foreword Pg. 3
Foreword by the
Superorganisms
of
This field guide is an

invitation.
You’re invited
Foreword Pg. 4
Let’s start from a place of
First Principles:¹
1
a. Where everything at Seed starts.
1
b. Breaking down complicated processes to their fundamentals, and
then rebuilding them, better, from the ground up.
The most sustainable solution for our planet is that us humans

stop making things, and we all stop buying things. As this
scenario is unlikely, we need a redesign.
In September of 2020, in the midst of one of the most divisive

years in modern history, the Climate Clock hit 7 years, 98 days,
15 hours 2 —an urgent, necessary wake-up call for action.
The climate crisis feels insurmountable—and action (especially

for startups) can feel performative and insignificant.
This Field Guide is the synthesis of our journey navigating this

confusing, complex, opaque world of carbon offsetting—the
questions we asked, the platforms we vetted, and the peer
reviewers and BS-checkers we consulted in our quest to remove
more greenhouse CO2 pollution from the Earth than we emit.
2
This is a countdown to our deadline of burning through our ‘carbon budget’
at our current pace, or the amount of CO2 that can still be released into the
atmosphere while limiting global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial
levels to mitigate the most severe effects of climate change.
As of publication: 6 years, 246 days, 5 hours
Foreword Pg. 5
We concluded that imperfect action now is better than nothing.

And that until governments and researchers figure out how to
phase out fossil fuel use for energy, carbon offset programs can
decrease the impact of companies’ carbon footprints on the
Earth.
Even this small but imperfect action can begin to address rising
CO2 emissions to blunt the worst effects of climate change.
So, we’re planting this seed.
We can, collectively and individually, make a difference.
This in mind, we dove deep into the murky waters of

carbon offsets.
3
From the Seed-verse: A
So we looked to field guides— favorite field guide of our VP
of Operations (and resident-
the ones for birds,3 rocks, fungi and plants, ornithophile), John Morgan:
Perrins, C., & Cameron, A.
the taxonomies of our living world— (1976). Birds: Their Life,
Their Ways, Their World
and decided we needed one (Reissue ed.). Reader’s
Digest Assn.
for carbon offsets.
Think of this as scaffolding to build from; a series of shortcuts to

audit, offset, reset, invest, and iterate.
Now off(set) you go4
4
Note: This is an open-sourced and open-ended resource. We invite you
to share your thoughts, experiences, tips, tricks, research, expertise,
scribbles, drawings, poems, and perspectives. Have something to add?
You can reach us at eco@seed.com or @seed.
—Team Seed
(AKA, The Bac Pac)
Foreword Pg. 6
And now onto...
1
Sustainability shouldn’t be proprietary. So we’ve made
our research and findings completely free for anyone
to use, build from, and improve.
2
Much like the impossibility of identifying all of the insects of
North America, a field guide is inherently ‘partial’ or incomplete
when there are too many unknowns. In this case, “unknowns”
refers to the constant evolution of climate solutions, the
limitations of our small (but mighty) team to synthesize all that
can be known today, and the importance of recognizing that
while solutions may not be perfect, they are steps forward.
Moreover, field guides act as an invitation for others to
continue this work.
3
A pouch-like structure, typically
sewn into pants, that helps you
carry ideas, methodologies,
car keys, rocks, and other small
objects around with you.
4
A tool for identifying and organizing
specific sets or species of things
(living and nonliving) in the world,
compiled and codified by those who
go out to explore it.
5
A complex and imperfect system whereby individuals
or companies pay to remove CO2 from the atmosphere,
or promote activities that reduce the future emission
of CO2 into the atmosphere.
6
A systems-based framework for thinking
(and questioning) beyond carbon offsets
in order to have a positive environmental
impact.
7
We wanted to call it Volume 00001—
because that’s how it feels—but thought
that was just absurdly long.
8
When we’re not making field guides, our day job is pioneering innovations in
microbial science for humans, honey bees, and even coral reefs. Diverse in our
backgrounds, but unified by our ‘why,’ we believe that health is not just human, that
we are Earth, and Earth is us.
Foreword Pg. 7
A moment of self-awareness.
Our focus in this field guide, as its title states, is on carbon offsetting,
going carbon negative, and building a cohesive, comprehensive
framework to better our environmental impact as a company.
Our journey led us to focus a significant portion of our time so far

on carbon offsets, which offer one of the most measurable impacts
on greenhouse gas emissions available to a company today. But, as
you will read, carbon offsets are not a silver bullet. For us, they are a
starting point. These data-driven, measurable insights have helped set
us on a path for future investments in other areas of environmentalism,
like community impact and environmental justice.
This is an acknowledgement that there is still a great amount of

work for us to do as a company that aims to have a net positive
environmental impact. We intend to continue that work. In the
meantime, here's what we've learned.
Peer Reviewers Pg. 8
Peer Reviewers
Pg. 1
An
pen-Source,1
ncomplete2
Jake Sargent
JS Founder of Atmos
Pocket 3
eld Guide4 JD
Jordan Daly
arbon Offsets 5
Co-Founder of Upwards
Other Ideas6)
Vol. 017
Max Moinian
MM Co-Founder of Future Earth
WM William B. Miller, M.D.
hesized by the Superorganisms of 8
Carbon Offsets5 (And Other Ideas6) Vol. 17 Synthesized by the Superorganisms of Seed8
The Basics: Climate Change 101 Pg. 9
The Basics:
Climate Change 101
Climate change
is real.1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
1
IPCC, 2018: Summary for Policymakers. In: Global Warming of 1.5°C. An IPCC Special Report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C
above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the
threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty [Masson-Delmotte, V., P. Zhai, H.-O. Pörtner, D. Roberts,
J. Skea, P.R. Shukla, A. Pirani, W. Moufouma-Okia, C. Péan, R. Pidcock, S. Connors, J.B.R. Matthews, Y. Chen, X. Zhou, M.I. Gomis, E. Lonnoy,
T. Maycock, M. Tignor, and T. Waterfield (eds.)]. World Meteorological Organization, Geneva, Switzerland, 32 pp.
2
NASA. (n.d.). Climate Change: How Do We Know? NASA Global Climate Change. https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/
3
PLASS, G.N. (1956), The Carbon Dioxide Theory of Climatic Change. Tellus, 8: 140-154. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2153-3490.1956.tb01206.x
4
Gaffney, O., & Steffen, W. (2017). The Anthropocene equation. The Anthropocene Review, 4(1), 53–61. https://doi.
org/10.1177/2053019616688022
5
Levitus, S.; Antonov, J.; Boyer, T.; Baranova, O.; Garcia, H.; Locarnini, R.; Mishonov, A.; Reagan, J.; Seidov, D.; Yarosh, E.; Zweng, M. (2017). NCEI
ocean heat content, temperature anomalies, salinity anomalies, thermosteric sea level anomalies, halosteric sea level anomalies, and total
steric sea level anomalies from 1955 to present calculated from in situ oceanographic subsurface profile data (NCEI Accession 0164586).
Version 4.4. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. doi: 10.7289/V53F4MVP
6
USGCRP, 2017: Climate Science Special Report: Fourth National Climate Assessment, Volume I [Wuebbles, D.J., D.W. Fahey, K.A. Hibbard,
D.J. Dokken, B.C. Stewart, and T.K. Maycock (eds.)]. U.S. Global Change Research Program, Washington, DC, USA, 470 pp, doi: 10.7930/
J0J964J6
7
NOAA. (n.d.). Global Climate Change Indicators: Warming Climate. NOAA.gov. https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/monitoring-references/faq/
indicators.php#warming-climate
8
NOAA. (n.d.). Global Climate Change Indicators: Human Influence. NOAA.gov. https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/monitoring-references/faq/
indicators.php#human-influence
9
Hadley Centre/Climatic Research Unit Temperature. (n.d.). Temperature. HadCRUT Climatic Research Unit: Data. https://crudata.uea.ac.uk/
cru/data/temperature/
10
Bannerjee, N. (2015, September 16). Exxon’s Own Research Confirmed Fossil Fuels’ Role in Global Warming Decades Ago. https://
insideclimatenews.org/news/16092015/exxons-own-research-confirmed-fossil-fuels-role-in-global-warming/
11
Et al.
12
Narrowly defined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
as the average weather, and more broadly defined as the highly
complex system made up of the atmosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere,
lithosphere, and biosphere, and the interactions between them.
What is
Climate Change?
Climate change is a change in Earth’s climate12 (attributed
directly or indirectly to human activity) that alters the
composition of the global atmosphere—and that is happening
in addition to natural climate variability observed over
comparable time periods.13 To put it simply: We’re living in
an epoch of environmental crises, all of which are tied to
humankind’s impact on the planet.14
Climate change is an enormous, complex problem. This is

not to say it’s an unsolvable problem, or that our species is
doomed by it. But let’s not understate it: climate change is
human-driven, and it is an existential threat to life on Earth.
14
It’s worth debunking the myth that some universal “they” in the
scientific world “changed the name” from “global warming” to “climate
change.” In fact, global warming is simply a warming of the earth due
to anthropogenic emissions, which has a causal relationship to the
broader changes in the Earth’s climate that we call “climate change.”
Both terms have been used since the middle of the 20th century. It was
Republican pollster and climate skeptic Frank Lutz who pushed for a
change in language in a controversial memo, since “climate change is
less frightening than global warming.”
13
UNFCCC. (2011). Fact Sheet: Climate Change Science. unfccc.int. https://unfccc.int/files/press/backgrounders/application/pdf/
press_factsh_science.pdf
What Causes 15
Emissions that come from us humans, not from,
say, leopards, whose largest contribution to climate
Climate Change? change is farting.
Though it’s a leviathan of a problem with CO2 was that high was 3 million years ago,
few easy solutions, the root cause of when Earth’s average temperature was 2-3
anthropogenic15 climate change is, relatively, degrees Celsius hotter, and sea levels were
very simple. Beginning with the Industrial 15-25 meters higher than today. We are
Revolution in the 18th Century, humankind releasing CO2 into the atmosphere about 100
has increasingly relied on fossil fuels to times faster than during previous “natural”
create the energy that drives our industries increases at any other time in Earth’s
and lives. But burning fossil fuels releases history.21
carbon dioxide,16 a colorless, non-flammable
gas that is one of several greenhouse gases 16
Henceforth known as CO2.
and the largest contributor to climate change.
Individuals, of course, contribute to climate
change—but today just as in 1850, the CO2 is a greenhouse gas, meaning that it
energy industry and global economy remain traps heat. Therein lies the mechanism
the leading CO2 polluters of our world.17 of climate change as we know it: burning
In fact, just 100 companies contribute fossil fuels for the past 171 years or so has
more than 70 percent of all CO2 emissions wrapped our planet in a gaseous blanket
worldwide.18 that entraps heat from the sun that would
otherwise escape Earth’s atmosphere. We
are now overheating collectively. Nineteen of
17
Carbon dioxide is made up of one carbon
atom and two oxygen atoms. the warmest years on record have occurred
since 2000; 2020 tied 2016 as the warmest
By reasonable scientific estimates,19 our year ever recorded, with a temperature 1.02
continued reliance on fossil fuels 20 has degrees celsius warmer than the average
resulted in a 48% increase in CO2 in the between 1951 and 1980.22
atmosphere since the year 1850. We now
stand at 416 parts per million of CO2 in the 20
In fact, we released more fossil fuel
emissions in 2019 than ever before.
atmosphere, an increase from 280 ppm in
1850. The last time the concentration of
18
Griffin, P. (2017). The Carbon Majors Database. CDP.
https://6fefcbb86e61af1b2fc4-c70d8ead6ced550b4d987d7c03fcdd1d.
ssl.cf3.rackcdn.com/cms/reports/documents/000/002/327/original/
Carbon-Majors-Report-2017.pdf?1501833772
19
NASA. (2021, February). Vital Signs: Carbon Dioxide. NASA Global
Climate Change. https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/carbon-dioxide/
21
Lindsey, R. (2020, August 14). Climate Change: Atmospheric Carbon
Dioxide. climate.gov. https://www.climate.gov/news-features/
understanding-climate/climate-change-atmospheric-carbon-
dioxide#:~:text=The%20global%20average%20atmospheric%20
carbon,least%20the%20past%20800%2C000%20years.
22
NASA. (2020). Vital Signs: Global Temperature. NASA Global Climate
Change. https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/global-temperature/
A quick temp check...
Important Terms
Climate Change A change in Earth’s climate, attributed directly

or indirectly to human activity, that alters the
composition of the global atmosphere and that is in
addition to natural climate variability observed over
comparable time periods.
Anthropogenic Emission Pollutants originating in human activity.
CO2 Carbon dioxide, a compound consisting of one

carbon molecule and two oxygen molecules.
It’s emitted during the burning of fossil fuels,
and because it’s a greenhouse gas, it traps heat
in the Earth’s atmosphere, warming the planet.
Carbon Footprint The sum of all CO2 emitted, usually measured

per year, in metric tonnes.
Carbon Offsetting Activities and programs that remove CO2 from the
atmosphere, or promote activities that reduce the
future emission of CO2 into the atmosphere.
Carbon Neutral When carbon offset equals carbon emitted.
Carbon Negative When carbon offset exceeds carbon emitted.
How Humans Disrupt

the Carbon Cycle
Here’s how the carbon cycle works, in nature:
a deer, for example, lives and dies with
everything it has ever owned, which is to say,
its own hide. It breathes in oxygen and exhales
CO2. It consumes what it needs to survive and
nothing else. Its carbon footprint is incredibly Carbon Cycle,
small; it is nature’s version of “carbon neutral.” In Nature
When it dies, its body decomposes and is
reused by plants, animals, and microbes as
food; in some cases, over millions of years
its remains are fossilized into carbon.
This carbon is released slowly back into the
atmosphere over thousands of years, where
it is absorbed by trees during photosynthesis,
producing oxygen.
We, on the other hand, don’t do that. Much

of your life on a daily basis requires burning
carbon-based fossil fuels—releasing that
deer’s carbon footprint all at once. Flipping
23
Roughly 0.2 kg of CO2-equivalent on a lightswitch burns carbon. So does
per salad, according to the
restaurant chain Just Salad. taking a hot shower. Driving to the gym does,
too, as does eating a salad 23 or a burger 24
(yes, even a plant-based one). Companies
and corporations carry all those simple
“human life” overhead carbon costs in their
employees, plus all the extra carbon costs
of things like manufacturing products,
packaging, shipping products around the
world, and more. That’s what makes global
industry and corporations the largest
contributors to climate change by far.
24
Roughly 3.6- 6.1 kg of CO2-equivalent
per burger, according to a calculation by
Jamais Cascio of “Open the Future.”
Symptoms of Climate Change

Of course, climate change’s effects are far broader than just a
warming effect. Earth and its inhabitants are fragile. Many vital
ecosystems are extremely vulnerable to even slight temperature
shifts; when one is affected, the interconnectedness of the
planet—and our place in it—is on terrifying display. The
following are just some of the current symptoms of climate
change on the planet and its inhabitants.
1
The Melting of the Antarctic Antartica Mass Variation Since 2002. NASA
and Greenland Ice Sheet

NASA satellites have recorded the
shrinking of land ice sheets in Antarctica
and Greenland since 2002; in total, the two
sheets are losing 428 billion metric tonnes
of ice per year.25 Together, the irreversible
loss of these perennial ice sheets would Greenland Mass Variation Since 2002. NASA
cause a multi-meter sea level rise lasting
hundreds or even thousands of years.26
The melting of the Arctic’s permafrost—
a carbon-rich, frozen soil that normally
acts as a carbon sink but when thawed,
releases billions of metric tonnes of CO227—
represents another ticking time bomb.
25
NASA. (2020). Vital Signs: Ice Sheets. NASA Global Climate Change. https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/ice-sheets/
26
Hoegh-Guldberg, O., D. Jacob, M. Taylor, M. Bindi, S. Brown, I. Camilloni, A. Diedhiou, R. Djalante, K.L. Ebi, F. Engelbrecht, J. Guiot, Y. Hijioka,
S. Mehrotra, A. Payne, S.I. Seneviratne, A. Thomas, R. Warren, and G. Zhou, 2018: Impacts of 1.5ºC Global Warming on Natural and Human
Systems. In: Global Warming of 1.5°C. An IPCC Special Report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and
related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change,
sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty [Masson-Delmotte, V., P. Zhai, H.-O. Pörtner, D. Roberts, J. Skea, P.R. Shukla, A.
Pirani, W. Moufouma-Okia, C. Péan, R. Pidcock, S. Connors, J.B.R. Matthews, Y. Chen, X. Zhou, M.I. Gomis, E. Lonnoy, T. Maycock, M. Tignor,
and T. Waterfield (eds.)]. In Press.
27
NASA. (2019, November 19). Permafrost Becoming a Carbon Source Instead of a Sink. NASA Earth Observatory. https://Earthobservatory.
nasa.gov/images/145880/permafrost-becoming-a-carbon-source-instead-of-a-sink
2
Global Sea Level Rise 2
The melting of that ice means more water
in the oceans, right? Well, yes. But a simple
law of physics complicates the problem:
As it gets hotter, H2O expands. That means
our warming oceans are a problem that
gets bigger, literally, every day. Warming air
temperatures have already raised sea levels
globally by nearly 4 inches, and are rising
annually by more than 0.1 inches.28 That’s a
Satellite Data: 1993–Present. NASA
major crisis already—just ask Jakarta, where
illegal well digging and climate-change-
driven sea level rise are pairing to regularly
swamp large areas of the city.29 Scientists
estimate the sea level will rise another 1-8
feet by 2100,30 increasing severe flooding
risks to major coastal cities worldwide,
putting some 360 million people at risk by
the year 2100.31
3
32
Any reservoir that stores a carbon-
containing chemical or compound
for an indefinite amount of time,
lowering the concentration of CO2
3
Ocean Acidification in the atmosphere.
The ocean is a carbon sink.32 But that absorption of CO2 has come at a cost: it has reacted
with components of seawater to make it more acidic. Today, oceans are about 30% more
acidic than they were at the start of the Industrial Revolution.33 That acidity reduces the
availability of calcium carbonate, which is the structural component for many shell-forming
sea animals. In this way, increased ocean acidity wreaks havoc on sea life, including literally
dissolving coral reefs.34
28
NASA. (2020, October). Vital Signs: Sea Level. NASA Global Climate Change. https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/sea-level/
29
Kimmelman, M. (2017, December 21). Jakarta Is Sinking So Fast, It Could End Up Underwater. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.
com/interactive/2017/12/21/world/asia/jakarta-sinking-climate.html
30
NASA. (n.d.). The Effects of Climate Change. NASA Global Climate Change. https://climate.nasa.gov/effects/
31
Kulp, S.A., Strauss, B.H. New elevation data triple estimates of global vulnerability to sea-level rise and coastal flooding. Nat Commun 10, 4844
(2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-12808-z
33
Levitus, Sydney; Antonov, John I.; Boyer, Tim P.; Baranova, Olga K.; Garcia, Hernan E.; Locarnini, Ricardo A.; Mishonov, Alexey V.; Reagan,
James R.; Seidov, Dan; Yarosh, Evgeney; Zweng, Melissa M. (2017). NCEI ocean heat content, temperature anomalies, salinity anomalies,
thermosteric sea level anomalies, halosteric sea level anomalies, and total steric sea level anomalies from 1955 to present calculated from
in situ oceanographic subsurface profile data (NCEI Accession 0164586). [indicate subset used]. NOAA National Centers for Environmental
Information. Dataset. https://doi.org/10.7289/v53f4mvp.
34
United States Environmental Protection Agency. (2019, August 23). Understanding the Science of Coastal and Ocean Acidity. epa.gov. https://
www.epa.gov/ocean-acidification/understanding-science-ocean-and-coastal-acidification
4
Ecosystem Destruction,
Species Population, and
Diversity Losses
CO2 can be taken out of the atmosphere—
trees do it every day via photosynthesis,
as does the ocean. Unfortunately, climate
change and environmental destruction have
dealt significant damage to the formerly
healthy ecosystems of our planet. Rising
temperatures are changing the timing of
seasonal life-cycle events, shifting the
geographical ranges where species can
survive, and disrupting the food chain.35
Approximately a million species of animals
and plants are threatened with extinction
due to the forces of climate change in the
coming decades.36
35
Environmental Protection Agency. (2017, January 19). Climate Impacts on Ecosystems. epa.gov. https://19january2017snapshot.epa.gov/
climate-impacts/climate-impacts-ecosystems_.html
36
Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. (n.d.). Nature’s Dangerous Decline ‘Unprecedented’
Species Extinction Rates ‘Accelerating’. ipbes.net. https://www.ipbes.net/news/Media-Release-Global-Assessment
5
Extreme Weather
California and Australia’s massive wildfires. Texas’s subfreezing temperatures. Bone-dry
droughts and flood water monsoons. Larger, more frequent hurricanes and typhoons. There is
evidence that the dynamics of these extreme weather events (and more) are driven in part by
the climate crisis.37
6
6
Threat to Earth’s Tiniest Life:
Microbes and Bacteria
Climate change affects most of Earth’s
organisms—including its tiniest. Microbes
and bacteria play key roles in carbon and
nutrient cycling. For instance, climate change
is affecting the marine biome: While some
microorganisms benefit from increased CO2
concentrations and ocean acidity, others are
negatively affected, threatening the delicate
balance of ocean life.38
37
Handmer, J., Y. Honda, Z.W. Kundzewicz, N. Arnell, G. Benito, J. Hatfield, I.F. Mohamed, P. Peduzzi, S. Wu, B. Sherstyukov, K. Takahashi, and
Z. Yan, 2012: Changes in impacts of climate extremes: human systems and ecosystems. In: Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and
Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation [Field, C.B., V. Barros, T.F. Stocker, D. Qin, D.J. Dokken, K.L. Ebi, M.D. Mastrandrea, K.J.
Mach, G.-K. Plattner, S.K. Allen, M. Tignor, and P.M. Midgley (eds.)]. A Special Report of Working Groups I and II of the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, and New York, NY, USA, pp. 231-290.
38
Cavicchioli, R., Ripple, W.J., Timmis, K.N. et al. Scientists’ warning to humanity: microorganisms and climate change. Nat Rev Microbiol 17,
569–586 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-019-0222-5
7
A Climate Refugee Crisis
Humans are already being displaced by climate change. More intense weather events like
flooding, droughts, and sea level rise already displace 20 million people worldwide per
year.39 And BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) communities are already being
disproportionately affected by climate change.40 Think it’s not hitting close to home? In the
U.S., residents of Louisiana’s Gulf Coast are already retreating from rising sea levels,41 and
Miami is adapting the city’s structures and future building plans amidst continuous flooding.
Beyond these symptoms, the impacts of climate change reinforce societal disparities and
systemic issues that call for a reframing of our dialogue, action and solutions moving forward.
39
UN Refugee Agency. (n.d.). Climate Change and Disaster Displacement. UNHCR USA. https://www.unhcr.org/en-us/climate-change-and-
disasters.html
40
USGCRP, 2018: Impacts, Risks, and Adaptation in the United States: Fourth National Climate Assessment, Volume II [Reidmiller, D.R., C.W.
Avery, D.R. Easterling, K.E. Kunkel, K.L.M. Lewis, T.K. Maycock, and B.C. Stewart (eds.)]. U.S. Global Change Research Program, Washington,
DC, USA, 1515 pp. doi: 10.7930/NCA4.2018
41
Sack, K., & Schwartz, J. (2018, February 24). Left to Louisiana’s Tides, a Village Fights for Time. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.
com/interactive/2018/02/24/us/jean-lafitte-floodwaters.html
Environmental Justice +
Intersectional Environmentalism
Environmental racism is the disproportionate impact of
environmental hazards on BIPOC individuals, families,
and communities. When it comes to confronting climate
change, BIPOC communities are put at the greatest
risk due to factors such as poor air quality, proximity
to industrial pollution, and extreme weather, to name a
Home to all 7.6 billion of us.
few. Environmental Justice is a movement mobilized in
response to this environmental racism.42
Intersectional Environmentalism—as stated by

environmentalist, Founder and Creative Director of
Intersectional Environmentalist, Leah Thomas—is “an
inclusive version of environmentalism that advocates for
both the protection of people and the planet. It identifies
the ways in which injustices happening to marginalized
communities and the earth are interconnected. It brings
injustices done to the most vulnerable communities,
and the earth, to the forefront and does not minimize or
silence social inequality.”43
43
Intersectional Environmentalism
is heavily influenced and
The Climate Justice Alliance’s Just Transition offers a inspired by Professor Kimberlé
Crenshaw’s work and research
framework for a foundational shift from an extractive of critical race theory. Professor
economy to a regenerative one. Its mission statement of Law at Columbia University
and the University of California,
includes a call to action that we echo here: Los Angeles, Crenshaw’s
studying of civil rights, race,
and racial oppression, led her
to develop Intersectional Theory.
42
Delegates to the First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit. (1991). Principles of Environmental Justice. ejnet.
org. http://www.ejnet.org/ej/principles.html
“We must change the rules to redistribute resources and

power to local communities. Just Transition initiatives are
shifting from dirty energy to energy democracy, from funding
highways to expanding public transit, from incinerators and
landfills to zero waste, from industrial food systems to food
sovereignty, from gentrification to community land rights,
from military violence to peaceful resolution, and from
rampant destructive development to ecosystem restoration.
Core to a just transition is deep democracy in which workers
and communities have control over the decisions that affect
their daily lives.”44
Principles of a Just Transition include: “Buen Vivir” (living well without

living at the expense of others), self-determination, equitable redistribution of
resources and power, regenerative ecological economics, and solidarity.
Viable climate change solutions must

be recentered to be inclusive of BIPOC
environmentalists and leaders, and integrate
diverse perspectives.45
44
Climate Justice Alliance. (2016). Just Transition: A Framework For Change. Climate Justice Alliance. https://
climatejusticealliance.org/just-transition/
45
Gardiner, B. (2020, June 9). Unequal Impact: The Deep Links Between Racism and Climate Change. Yale Environment 360.
https://e360.yale.edu/features/unequal-impact-the-deep-links-between-inequality-and-climate-change
How We Can Blunt the Catastrophic

Impacts of Climate Change
Almost as detrimental as climate skepticism or denial is “climate

doomism,” the embrace of the idea that because all hope is lost, we
should do nothing.46 Because as bad as our situation sounds,47 by
understanding the science and acting appropriately now, we can
blunt climate change’s worst effects.
47
And we get it, it’s bleak.
46
Lamb, W., Mattioli, G., Levi, S., Roberts, J., Capstick, S., Creutzig, F., . . . Steinberger, J. (2020). Discourses of climate delay. Global
Sustainability, 3, E17. doi:10.1017/sus.2020.13
In 2018, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

(IPCC) released a Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5
Degrees Celsius.
The report lays out what is known about the causes, effects, and potential
remedies for climate change catastrophes. More importantly, it details why
holding average global warming to 1.5°C, rather than warming to or above 2°C, is
absolutely vital to the future of humankind’s existence on earth. In short: climate
models project robust differences in the effects of climate warming to 1.5°C and
2°C, with significantly worse outcomes for the higher temperature change.48
A few examples of the benefits of keeping global

warming to 1.5oC include:
10 million fewer people exposed to the risk of sea level rise
The Antarctic and Greenland land ice sheets may not be lost permanently
Minimize terrestrial, freshwater, and coastal species loss and extinction
Saving 10-30% of global coral reefs (as opposed to less than 1% remaining)
50% less land mass will undergo ecosystem transformation
Halving the projected losses of global annual catch for worldwide marine
fisheries
Reducing the proportion of the world population exposed to a climate

change-induced increase in water stress by up to 50%
Lowering risks for heat-related morbidity and mortality
Lowering risk from some vector-borne diseases like malaria and dengue
fever, and lessen potential shifts in their geographic range.
Smaller net reductions in crop yields, saving populations from hunger and
starvation worldwide
48
How Do We Do It?
Here’s the vision for success the IPCC report from 2018 laid out:
“A mix of adaptation and mitigation options to limit global warming
to 1.5°C, implemented in a participatory and integrated manner,
can enable rapid, systemic transitions in urban and rural areas.” In
short, systemic, wholesale change. And companies, as the major
CO2 polluters of the Earth, must lead the way.
Where do companies start?

There are two prongs of action.
1 2
One is supporting rapid transitions in energy, The other is to stop releasing CO2 into the
land, urban, infrastructure, and industrial atmosphere. To do that, we need to stop
systems.49 In short, shift the paradigm to burning fossil fuels.
make those systems more sustainable.
49
Whenever possible, these goals must be accomplished
alongside the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, which
include ending poverty and hunger and improving education,
well-being, gender equality, and more.
That cannot happen overnight. To meet the IPCC’s goal of

holding warming to 1.5°C, emissions must decline by about
45% from 2010 levels by 2030, reaching net zero CO2 emissions
by 2050. As individuals, that means we must re-imagine our
50
Eat less meat. lifestyle choices,50 but especially, it means we must demand that 51
And stop
Reduce, reuse, companies reduce their CO2 emissions.51 Most important of all, buying
recycle. Et cetera.
from those
companies themselves must embrace a shift away from fossil companies
fuels by minimizing their carbon footprint to both lower the CO2 that don’t.
being pumped into the Earth’s atmosphere and reduce demand

for fossil fuels to drive a shift toward renewable, clean energy.52
52
Reducing the supply needs of carbon, on
the other hand, could be accomplished by
government programs like carbon taxes, cap-
To meet the IPCC’s goal of holding warming to

1.5°C, emissions must decline by about 45%
from 2010 levels by 2030, reaching net zero
CO2 emissions by 2050.
Go Carbon Neutral—Then Go
Carbon Negative
Carbon Offsets Activities and programs that remove CO2 from the
atmosphere, or promote activities that reduce the
future emission of CO2 into the atmosphere.
Sustainable
Agriculture
Investment in A company’s total

Clean Energy Funding CO2 emission
Education
Planting
Trees
A first step toward heeding the IPCC’s Carbon offsets are a simple solution for
call to action is to reduce your company’s individuals and corporations who want
carbon footprint—that’s the net total carbon to take action to decrease their CO2
burned by your business’s operations and emissions. But some are flawed. Suppliers
employees.53 Companies can also utilize use dubious data. Quantifying how much
carbon offsets.54 The idea of offsetting carbon a program protecting old-growth
carbon is simple: By taking part in an activity Amazonian rainforest sequesters can be
that removes CO2 from the atmosphere ambiguous at best and misrepresented
or helps to support the rapid transitions at worst; meanwhile, companies labelling
in energy, land, urban, infrastructure, and themselves “carbon neutral” because of it
industrial systems that the IPCC’s 2018 report are still pumping out CO2.56
demands, companies can counteract the
CO2 they emit into the atmosphere. That can 53
See: Step #2
be planting trees, subsidizing sustainable
agriculture, or funding education programs to
54
See: Step #4
help provide universal education and family
planning for women worldwide.55 A company
that offsets 100% of their carbon emissions
is said to be carbon neutral; offset more CO2
than you emit and you’re carbon negative.
55
Project Drawdown. (n.d.). Health and Education. Project Drawdown. https://drawdown.org/solutions/health-and-education
56
Song, L. (2019, May 22). An Even More Inconvenient Truth. ProPublica. https://features.propublica.org/brazil-carbon-offsets/
inconvenient-truth-carbon-credits-dont-work-deforestation-redd-acre-cambodia/
Ready to zoom in?
Keep scrolling
Carbon
An Open-Source,1 Incomplete2 Pocket3 Field Guide4 to Going Carbon
OffsetsNegativ
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(And Other
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Ideas
Other
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Ideas
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How We Did It Pg. 28
How We Did It
(How You Can Do It, Too)
1 3
Step 1: Decide What Sustainability Means to You
Step 2: Conduct a Carbon Footprint Audit
Step 3: Reduce Your Carbon Footprint
Step 4: Offset Your Carbon Footprint
Step 5: Invest in Other Areas of Environmental Impact
Step 6: Peer Review and Iterate
Step 1:
Decide What
Sustainability Means
to You
Sustainability:
“Development that meets the needs for the present without
compromising the ability for future generations to meet
their own needs.”— Sustainability as defined by the World
Commission on Environment and Development (1987)
There is an inextricable link between humans and the

environment, and a deeply rooted (and shared) history of our
species developing with others. The idea that we humans are
separate from nature is unique to a colonialist and industrialized
mindset. As an example, the Rarámuri, a group of Indigenous
people living in the Americas, called this kinship between
humans and nature “iwígara,” or the belief that all life is
interconnected and shares the same breath.57
Since our founding, sustainability was inherently

in our DNA, a helix that wouldn’t break or
compromise during change or hardship, that
would continue to replicate as we grew and
evolved, mirroring itself in the shared values of
our company.
For us, this definition goes beyond carbon It does not waver, isn’t influenced by
offsets, footprint reduction, and packaging— trends or buzzwords, but becomes a key
it is embedded in our ecosystem and how we performance indicator that you continuously
show up in the world, with each other, our use to challenge yourself and your team.
partners and our community. It is present in
every touchpoint and is a vital biomarker of Sustainability is a center of gravity—the
our business. means by which you (and your ecosystem)
stay grounded, and then thrive.
This singular focus doesn't need to be
discovered at an offsite or at the top of a
mountain, but it’s also not a simple marketing
campaign or quarterly objective.
57
Salmón, E. (2020). Iwígara: American Indian Ethnobotanical Traditions and Science. Portland, OR: Timber Press.
Prepare to Scale
Speaking of thriving: Scalability is another benefit of adding
carbon neutrality or negativity to your company’s bedrock
foundations. The small company of today is the Amazon of 58
And they ought
to be much more
tomorrow.58 And while it can take large companies a long time to environmentally
friendly than
implement and execute a carbon negative program (see: many Amazon.
brands’ excitable “Carbon negative by 2030!” announcements),
as a smaller company we were able to pivot to going carbon
negative relatively quickly.
The benefits are obvious to any startup: When your company

scales, your net-carbon-negative environmental impact will
scale with you. This avoids a massive switching cost, because
you’ll have already integrated these best practices into your
operating system. Think of it like this: Rather than trying to steer
a massive oil tanker down a sustainable path, set your course
as a nimble sailboat. You’ll thank yourself (and maybe this field
guide) later.
Amazon
+ The Sustainability Canal

Your Company
Rather than trying to steer a massive oil tanker down a

sustainable path, set your course as a nimble speedboat.
You’ll thank yourself (and maybe this field guide) later.
Work Culture that Centralizes

the Planet
You’re committed. Now it’s time to organize. Climate change action can be a call to arms
at a small business—a motivator, a catalyst for individual change, and a bond for the team.
Studies show that individual actions can snowball, creating a “motivation contagion.”59
We took a grassroots, simple approach to building an empowered, climate-driven work
culture, including:
Starting a “Sustainability” Slack channel

It seems obvious, but creating an always-on space for
1
conversation, inspiration and to keep our CO2 emission goals on
radar every day. Staying informed about new updates, technologies
and potential partners, was critical to moving fast and keeping this
prioritized in a busy startup.
Practicing simple sustainability at the office

Covering the basics—recycling, LED lighting, compostable trash bags,
gifting reusable coffee cups to use at the local coffee shop, team beach
cleanups—are simple steps to get the entire team to buy in and provide
a daily dopamine hit for acting with the environment in mind.
Including all employees in discussions about our carbon negative path.

We quickly established an open-door, open-calendar policy regarding
environmental impact questions and discussions.60 The interdisciplinary
nature of this project brought together disparate team members to
collaborate. (For example, our VP of Operations and our Executive
Creative Producer cross-pollinated research to champion this project
together.) The decision to make an open-source guide about our process,
in fact, was born of this spirit of inclusivity.
1 Shutting down a question about sustainability

60
in a group setting is a surefire way to destroy

gains made in team-building toward an
environmental challenge.
59
Murayama, K. (2018, June). The science of motivation. Psychological Science Agenda. http://www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2018/06/
motivation
Step 2:
Conduct a Carbon
Footprint Audit
You’ve committed
to being the sort of company that will help the Earth stay
within 1.5°C of global warming in the next hundred years.
Bravo. Now, the work begins.
We started with the goal of going carbon negative.

But before we could begin reducing our carbon footprint,
we had to accurately quantify and understand what that
carbon footprint was in the first place. To do that,
we conducted a carbon footprint audit.
What is a Carbon
Footprint Audit ?
Carbon accounting is a standardized means
of assessing the impact on climate change
that a company has, including not just its
own on-site and direct activities, but also
all of its indirect operational implications.
This includes understanding the impacts of
everything a company buys, the activities
of its employees getting to work and during
the workday, business travel, purchasing
decisions, and overall operations. A good
audit uses accurate, granular company data
and standardized emission factors to provide
a report of carbon footprint.
Think of a carbon audit as a fact-finding

mission for your business. You’ll quantify
your impact on the planet, and discover areas
where you’re having more impact or less
than you imagine. Once you have one, your
carbon footprint will shift from an elusive idea
to a number, offering actionable insight into
minimizing your carbon footprint, offsetting
your carbon emissions, and becoming
carbon negative.
How Did We Accomplish Our

Carbon Footprint Audit? 62
See Step 4.
There are a number of carbon accountants After an extensive search, we found Emitwise,
and accounting tools on the market for a UK-based carbon accounting firm.
calculating carbon footprints, all the way Emitwise hopes to create a more accessible
from basic, free online tools aimed at system for carbon accounting—“available
individuals61 to wildly expensive services for quick turnaround, and accomplished for
used by some of the world’s largest use in a practical sense, rather than these
companies. Carbon accounting has been big, heavy documents that sit on a shelf
around for decades, but in recent years and ultimately get picked up once a year
increased demand and improved tools have when it’s time to report on it again,” says
led to a growing marketplace. Choosing the Caroline Bartlett, Emitwise’s Head of Carbon
right partner is key—just like the carbon Accounting. “Seed is such a perfect example
offset marketplace,62 there are players who of using this information to identify how to
do a good job and those whose calculations make those decisions internally.”
are more dubious. One of the hardest steps
in the carbon footprint audit was simply Emitwise helped us gather the detailed data
finding a trustworthy, competent firm to audit required for an accurate footprint audit, then
our footprint. Other companies our size might cleaned, standardized, and processed the
run into the same problems—they’re either data to calculate how much every activity
too large to use simpler carbon accounting related to our employees and our business
tools, or too small to hire large, expensive contributed to burning fossil fuels. The data
firms. Our solution was to continue searching points we delivered to Emitwise for our
and reaching out until we could find a partner carbon footprint audit included:
that could do the job right.
Electricity use and details of Leased assets

energy management system Transportation of goods bought/
Fuel use produced
Company vehicle details Investments
Refrigerant use Floor space
Procurement data Packaging details
Personnel data Product details
Business travel And a pre-existing impact
Waste data statement
61
The Nature Conservancy. (2021). Calculate Your Carbon Footprint. The Nature Conservancy. https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/
how-to-help/carbon-footprint-calculator/?gclid=CjwKCAjwu5CDBhB9EiwA0w6sLfe57YtGFpYfAG8ow8As9EoJgFmDRHh44izVzmOvO1UJ1
ZJk7gQcXRoC8VoQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
As a relatively new company, Emitwise was able to build customized

tools to calculate our footprint across three “scopes.”
“Direct fixing,” which calculates a

Scope 1
business’s footprint based on carbon

burned directly onsite (company
vehicles, for instance)
Scope 2
Focuses on purchased electricity

generated at a power station offsite.
Scope 3
Carbon footprint based on all other

data, including supply chain and
other “upstream” carbon emissions.
Beyond the cost associated with hiring a company like Emitwise, this
process required a lot of another currency: time. It takes a while to
review and audit every aspect of your business in detail to know where
all the carbon contributions are coming from. Account for that time.
What Did Our Carbon Footprint

Audit Teach Us ?
Emitwise calculated our carbon footprint at 1.8 million metric

kilos of carbon (1,800 metric tonnes). This is a lot of carbon,
but it’s also dwarfed by the emissions of larger companies.
(In a 2020 announcement that they’d become

carbon neutral by 2030, Microsoft disclosed some
16 million metric tonnes of carbon annually; 63
ExxonMobil’s carbon
footprint in 2019 was
1.3 billion metric tonnes.64)
To become carbon neutral or negative, we would need to reduce
that footprint of CO2 emissions, and offset any remaining emissions.
The majority of that footprint was emitted in Scope 3 activities—
especially in our shipping and supply chain. We also were able to
recognize packaging (despite the sustainable nature of the materials
themselves), as an area for improvement.
63
Smith, B. (2020, January 16). Microsoft Will Be Carbon Negative by 2030. Official Microsoft Blog. https://blogs.microsoft.com/
blog/2020/01/16/microsoft-will-be-carbon-negative-by-2030/
64
Buckley, K. (2021, January 6). Exxonmobil Releases Its Most Comprehensive Emissions Report Ever. Houston Public Media. https://
www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/2021/01/06/388848/exxonmobil-releases-its-most-comprehensive-emissions-report-
ever/#:~:text=Emissions%20from%20consumer%20use%20of%20ExxonMobil%20petroleum%20and%20gas%20hit,of%20carbon%20
dioxide%20in%202019
3 Tips for Startups

from Caroline Bartlett, Emitwise’s
Head of Carbon Accounting
1 2
Don’t be put off. Don't get caught too deep in the weeds,
especially for on-site carbon footprint.
“In the UK, we have something called the
streamlined energy and carbon reporting “One of the things we often find is that
requirement, and a lot of the documents companies doing this for the first time
involved are so wordy and quite scary when will spend a huge, huge, huge amount of
you read them. They include terminology effort trying to unpack really, really granular
that no one actually uses, and if you’re not in things on their own site that aren’t actually
the sector then you don’t understand what it anywhere near as significant as, say, the
can mean, and it can be really overwhelming. expenditure of Scope 3 items. Instead of
So, my first advice is not to be put off. I think looking at the big picture, they drill down
that a lot of the work that companies can do into something so granular. This can be
on their end is quite manageable internally. overwhelming, trying to get that level of
Equally, working with companies that can information for something they ultimately
help walk and talk you through these steps don’t really need.”
is always a valuable process to help you
understand specifically the kind of carbon
impact your company is having.”
3
Gather data effectively.
“Ultimately, a lot of this is about putting the systems in place to collect the data you need in
the first place. Obviously, if you’re in a position where you can automate some of that, if you
can—digitize it. Many companies we work with, they’ve never done this before, so a lot of the
historic data is kind of non-existent and really difficult to find. But if you’re collecting the data
we need throughout the year, you can do a much better job in terms of managing your targets
and identifying your performance. And now when it comes to reporting, you’ve got it all there
and ready to go.”
Step 3:
Reduce Your
Carbon Footprint
Our carbon footprint audit provided useful insight for our next step:
reducing our carbon footprint. Using the raw data on emissions
we received from Emitwise, we were able to identify several areas
of our business where we believed our largest emissions could be
minimized—in particular, supply chain, shipping, and packaging.65
65
Carbon Footprint Contributors.
73% 4.2%
LCA Domestic LCA Production
Refill
11.4% 4.2%
LCA Domestic LCA Int Refill
Welcome Kit
4.9% 2.3%
Other Supply Chain LCA Int Welcome Kit
Activities
LCA: Life Cycle Assessment/Analysis
Reduce Supply Chain and

Shipping Emissions
Our supply chain operations, both for the Shipping products and supplies by land,
production of our DS-01™ Daily Synbiotic air, and sea all burns fossil fuels. To limit
and for shipping to our customers, made up a the emissions of those shipments, we are
very large portion of our total carbon footprint working on several solutions, including:
in 2020. As a direct-to-consumer company
that ships to hundreds of thousands of
customers across more than 40 countries,
and that actively works with hundreds
of partners, globally, to manufacture our
products, this came as no surprise.
Reducing Air Travel

500g CO2 Airplanes emit 500 grams of CO2 per metric
Per metric tonne of freight per
tonne of freight per kilometer of transport.
kilometer of transport Shipping by boat, meanwhile, is far less
costly for the planet—emitting just 10-40
grams of CO2 per metric tonne of freight per
kilometer. Avoiding air shipping whenever
possible can make a large dent in our carbon
footprint, and we’ve adjusted our shipping
strategies appropriately. We also plan to offer
international customers two-, three-, and
six-month subscriptions to reduce our overall
number of shipments per customer—and
hope to offer the same service to domestic
customers in the foreseeable future.
10-40g CO2
Per metric tonne of freight per
kilometer of transport
Two-Node Shipping
We operate a truly global supply chain.
One of our packaging partners makes
specialized corrugated cardboard
in Italy. The PaperFoam is made in
the Netherlands. Capsules are made
elsewhere. Then they’re all shipped to
Southern California, before heading out
to a customer in, say, New Jersey. Two-
node shipping diversifies the process: A
second shipping center in South Carolina
cuts off thousands of miles of shipping
immediately, reducing truck, train, and
plane emissions.
Our Packaging Win-Win-Win: Cutting

Emissions, Adding Sustainable Materials,
and Reducing Costs
Single-use packaging material is a By trimming 5.25 ounces off each
contributor to not only our CO2 emissions Welcome Kit, for instance, we shaved tens
crisis—it takes fossil fuel to produce of thousands of pounds off our annual
those plastics—but also the monumental shipping weights, minimizing CO2 emissions
and devastating waste crisis that’s filling from shipping. Not to mention shifting toward
our oceans with junk. That’s why we’re even more biodegradable, environmentally
extremely proud of our new packaging, friendly materials.
which is the closest thing to a home
run our net-negative emissions journey Here’s a rundown of the changes we made to
has produced. our Welcome Kits and refills.
Welcome Kit
Sustainable Refill System 1.0 Net Weight: 17.75 oz
Mycelium trays
An excellent shipping material made of mushroom root structure.
Unfortunately, it was too heavy—more weight means higher costs
and higher emissions when shipping.
FSC Certified recyclable paper corrugated boxes

These were actually great—just not as good as our upgraded boxes.
Refill pouch resealable plastic zipper

Resealable pouches weren’t as important to consumers as we
expected, and we were able to eliminate this feature.
Virgin cardstock paper

Increased quality, in this case, meant a less sustainable paper.
Sustainable Refill System 2.0

Welcome Kit Net Weight: 12.5 oz
1
1
Biodegradable algae paper
Our new shipping box is made of
ecologically safe toxic algae that would
otherwise damage marine ecosystems.
Made by: Favini
2
Biodegradable PaperFoam trays
Made of starch, natural fibers, and water,
they break down completely in 90 days.
Made by: PaperFoam
2 3
Refillable glass jar and glass travel vial
Glass is recyclable, but we also recommend
our customers keep these to reuse for
monthly refills or to bring a week’s worth of
synbiotic when they travel.
Made by: Lumi / Veritiv
3
4
Dissolvable corn-based barrier foam
A natural insulator made from U.S.-grown
cornstarch. Can be recycled, composted, or
dissolved in water by customers.
4 Made by: Green Cell Foam
5
Biofilm refill protection pouch
It protects against moisture and oxygen,
yet is 100% home-compostable and breaks
down in 18 months or less.
Made by: Elevate Packaging
Challenges—An Ode to The Dead Ends,

Minor Disasters, and Unsolvable Problems
We Encountered
Even our packaging victory was not all sunshine and rainbows.
You, too, should be prepared to deal with setbacks while working to
reduce your company’s carbon emissions and introduce sustainable
materials. Here are a few.
Aluminum and plastic lids

Aluminum is light and infinitely recyclable. However, when we used it
to replace our plastic Welcome Kit lids and jars, it cooked our bacteria.
Which means we still have plastic lids—for now.
Slicing the backs off mycelium trays

While we loved our mycelium trays, they were too heavy. An initial
attempt at slicing them down for weight relied on defying the laws of
physics and gravity. No dice.
Minimum order quantities (MOQs)

This is an overarching problem for small businesses. Many of
our packaging requests were denied because we couldn’t meet
minimum order quantities. Plastics manufacturers don’t want
to change their processes unless the resulting orders are wildly
profitable. One possible solution is for small businesses to team up
to collectively hit MOQs, or to insist that manufacturers meet their
sustainable packaging needs.
Quantifying changes to our footprint

Ongoing audits are mission critical. We are still awaiting updated
data from a new carbon audit that will give us a better sense of how
changes have affected our emissions. Until that time, it’s hard to tell
just how much we’ve shrunk our carbon footprint, or how we can
adjust our strategies to minimize our greenhouse gas impact.
Don't let perfect be the

enemy of good.
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Step 2:
Offset Your Carbon

Emission Footprint
The vast majority

of humankind’s energy still comes from burning fossil fuels.66
This makes it infeasible for most companies—and indeed,
most individuals—to simply reduce our carbon footprint to
gross zero. Net zero CO2 emissions, on the other hand, is
possible thanks to carbon offset programs. Sounds great—
but the truth is, carbon offset programs are an imperfect
(and in some cases, deeply flawed) solution. For us, finding
a trustworthy partner with a portfolio of empirically driven
carbon-offset programs was vital to accomplishing our
carbon-negative goal. Political action on a global
66
scale is required to shift

our energy infrastructure
away from fossil fuels once
and for all.
What Are Carbon Offsets? –

In 1997, the UN introduced a carbon credit
system within the Clean Development
Mechanism (CDM) included in the Kyoto
Protocol.67 It allows emission reduction
projects to earn Certified Emission Reduction
–
(CER) credits, each of which represents
capturing one metric tonne of CO2 or other
greenhouse gas. Four large NGOs—Gold
Standard, VCS, Climate Action Reserve, and
American Carbon Registry—certify carbon
credits based on standards of legitimacy and
–
enforceability.
Our Balance:
1,800
Metric Tonnes of CO2
Think of carbon offset programs as a credit card for carbon. The

1,800 metric tonnes of CO2 our business’s activities released into the
Earth’s atmosphere in 2020 is the balance on that card. We pay off the
balance by investing in carbon-offset programs, which fund systems
that remove CO2 from the Earth’s atmosphere. A net negative carbon
footprint offsets more carbon than the company or individual emits.
67
United Nations. (1998). Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. unfcc.int. https://unfccc.int/
resource/docs/convkp/kpeng.pdf
An Imperfect Solution: Carbon

Offset Concerns
Offsets are not meant to be a silver bullet to fix climate change,
but rather a way to balance out our CO2 emissions until cleaner
energy allows companies to conduct their business with
minimal emissions in the first place.
It’s important to note that not all carbon offset programs are
created equal. As one researcher put it, carbon offsets for
forest preservation are “the worst possible solution—except
for everything else.”68 The problem is that not all carbon offset
credits are what they’re cracked up to be. Some projects
purporting to protect old-growth forests only conduct audits
every seven years. Others have failed to conduct any audits at
all, and still more have inaccurately calculated their impact on
CO2 drawdowns. Not all carbon-offset programs are poorly run,
though, and it’s important to invest only in offset programs that
can be actively verified and enforced.
Educate Yourself on Carbon

Offset Program Types
The goal of any company considering carbon offset projects
should be to purchase credits that reflect their environmental
priorities and represent real, measurable impact on CO2
emissions. Our first step was to research viable solutions. We
leaned heavily on Project Drawdown, a non-profit founded in
2014 with the aim of helping the world reach “drawdown,” the
point when carbon emissions begin to decline.
68
Song, L. (2019, May 22). An Even More Inconvenient Truth. ProPublica. https://features.propublica.org/brazil-carbon-offsets/inconvenient-
truth-carbon-credits-dont-work-deforestation-redd-acre-cambodia/
Their “Table of Solutions,” which catalogues climate solutions by

sector as well as outlining solutions by impact globally in both 1.5°C
and 2°C models, informed our list of prioritized programs.69
Many different types of carbon offset programs exist, and new ones
are created every day. Here are some carbon offset types and how
they work.
Planting trees Protecting old-growth forests and

biodiversity
Trees take in CO2 and emit oxygen during
photosynthesis. A mature sycamore tree can But planting new trees is costly. It takes
store up to 1 tonne of carbon. This makes young forests time to grow large enough to
a tree a viable carbon sink. A 2019 study sequester carbon; new forests can compete
estimated that Earth’s ecosystems could with food production; and trees are likely to
support another half a trillion trees, which return a portion of the carbon they sequester
would reduce atmospheric carbon by 25%.70 to the atmosphere when they die. That’s why
Most tree-planting carbon offsets are simple: some offset programs prioritize protecting
donate money, and trees are planted. The old-growth forests from destruction,
idea is that eventually, when they’re fully which releases the CO2 sequestered in
grown, the trees will offset your emissions. trees and damages the vital ecosystems
But not all tree-planting initiatives are sometimes called “Earth’s lungs.” The best
created equal. A good tree-planting program of these programs also prioritize protecting
should aim to restore a forest to pre-human whole ecosystems and working with local
biodiversity levels, rather than create “tree communities to ensure long-term protection
plantations.” for the forest.
69
Project Drawdown. (2021). Table of Solutions. Project Drawdown. https://drawdown.org/solutions/table-of-solutions
70
Bastin, J., Finegold, Y., Garcia, C., Mollicone, D., Rezende, M., Routh, D., . . . Crowther, T. W. (2019). The global tree restoration potential.
Science, 365(6448), 76-79. doi:10.1126/science.aax0848
Investing in future tech, like Methane capture

carbon capture technology
Mining operations and landfills emit
Many models in the IPCC’s 2018 1.5°C report methane, a greenhouse gas that traps
include “negative emissions,” or removing twenty-five times more heat in the
CO2 from the atmosphere and burying it in atmosphere than CO2 per pound. Methane
the Earth. This requires carbon capture and capture programs fund the infrastructure
sequestration (CCS) technology. While CCS to grab that methane before it escapes into
tech is vital, it remains inefficient, costly, the atmosphere, then burn it to generate
or both; if the technology fails to emerge, electricity.72
we may be locked into a high-temperature
pathway.71 Some carbon offset programs
invest in R+D for CSS, or fund it directly in a
bid to avoid that outcome. Educating Young Women
Universal education and family planning
access rank as one of Project Drawdown’s
largest potential drivers of decreased CO2
emissions by 2050.73 Beyond increasing
quality of life for women worldwide, these
programs can make women stewards of
the environment and help them cope with
the consequences of climate change on
their communities. And giving all women
proper access to high-quality family
planning and healthcare solutions is
not about population control—it’s about
71
Anderson, K., & Peters, G. (2016). The trouble with negative empowerment and equality for women. As
emissions. Science, 354(6309), 182-183. doi:10.1126/science.
aah4567 Project Drawdown puts it, “the benefits to
72
Project Drawdown. (n.d.). Landfill Methane Capture. Project the planet are side effects.”
Drawdown. https://drawdown.org/solutions/landfill-methane-
capture
73
Project Drawdown. (n.d.). Health and Education. Project
Drawdown. https://drawdown.org/solutions/health-and-education
What Makes a Carbon Offset

Program Effective ?
There are four major carbon offset NGOs:
1 Gold Standard 2 VCS
3 Climate Action Reserve 4 American Carbon Registry
You should look for a project that has been certified by one of them. We also relied on our
partner, Patch, whose team of experts and advisors has built a portfolio filled with high-
integrity projects that remove and sequester CO2 from the atmosphere.74 Each of their offset
programs is certified by at least one of the “big four” NGOs. Their “frontier” carbon removal
programs are verified using a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), which tracks the program
from “cradle to grave” to confirm the efficacy of the program, avoid waste, and maximize
environmental benefit. Patch also uses data from CarbonPlan, a third-party nonprofit offering
objective data scoring projects on key criteria.
74
Patch. (n.d.). About. patch.io. https://www.patch.io/about
Patch uses three key criteria to vet their carbon offset programs:
1 Would the program have happened in the absence of funding?

If the solar farms would have been built without additional
Additionality carbon offset programs, or the old-growth forest was never at
risk of being deforested, they would fail this test. Additionality
is difficult to measure, yet essential to a carbon offset credit’s
quality. Ideally, a program would never have happened without
a company buying CO2 removal credits: by funding it, your
company is actually vitally important to removing CO2 from the
atmosphere.
2 How long will the CO2 you offset stay out of the atmosphere? A
tree that captures carbon won’t last forever. If a forest dies and
Permanence burns, or is bought by a lumber company for clearcutting, your
carbon offset investment has been lost. You should consider
ownership status, timeframe, and resources for protection
in any carbon offset programs; consider, too, that biological,
geological, and avoidance programs have different levels of
permanence.
3 Offset programs should be able to verify the carbon credits

issued as well as the number of carbon benefits the program
Verifiability represents. (For instance: Does the forest actually sequester
1 million metric tonnes of CO2 a year, or has the audit been
inflated or incorrectly calculated?) A third-party verification
organization can confirm the former. Look for programs with
methodologies and protocols that require rigorous monitoring,
reporting, and proof of recent activity.
Our Carbon Offset Portfolio

We settled on six programs that represented our company’s environmental priorities and
presented good evidence of additionality, permanence, and verifiability. A full offset of 1,800
metric tons of CO2 at the cost of $6/kilo got us to net-carbon-neutral emissions.
In the end, we decided to offset 10% more than our monthly CO2 emissions (beginning in April
of 2021) to become carbon negative, and maintain our carbon negativity at a $10.24/tonne rate
by investing in a portfolio of carbon offset companies and technologies.
Pachama Brazil Nuts Project

We worked with Pachama, an offset company that uses remote
sensing and machine learning data to confirm the successful
carbon sequestration of its offset projects,75 to offset our
historic carbon until 2021. The Brazil Nut Concessions program
was founded in 2010 to prevent deforestation and protect
biodiversity within 500,000 acres of the Peruvian Amazon.
The project teams up with a conglomeration of more than 300
small concessionaire landowners and aims to refocus the local
economy toward the passive harvest of Brazil nuts, which are
valuable and only grow in the type of old-growth rainforest
found within the project’s bounds. The forest sequesters an
estimated 5 million tonnes of CO2 annually. And the local
community has gained economic opportunities from the use of
the forest, and remote sensing data has shown no meaningful
disturbances or biomass changes, a very positive sign that illicit
logging is not occurring.
Certification: Pachama Remote Sensing Data
75
Pachama. (n.d.). How Pachama Evaluates Forest Carbon Projects. Pachama. Retrieved August 12, 2020, from https://medium.com/@
pachamainc/how-pachama-evaluates-forest-carbon-projects-799f6673303b
CarbonCure76
The concrete industry is a major source of CO2 pollution. But
CarbonCure, based in Nova Scotia, Canada, turns concrete
into a carbon sink. They supply concrete companies with
CO2 emissions captured by industrial gas companies, which
is injected into batches of concrete before it’s used. The
CO2 mineralizes in the concrete, forming calcium carbonate,
which makes the concrete stronger—and even if the concrete
structure is demolished in the future, the former CO2 remains
mineralized as calcium carbonate, ensuring the permanence of
the CO2 offset.
Certification:
Charm Industrial Bio-Oil 77

Excess wood and sawdust that decomposes produce
biogenic CO2 emissions. Charm Industrial has developed a
novel method to convert the biomass material into “bio-oil”
using fast pyrolysis—heating the material to 500°C in seconds
without oxygen present. The bio-oil will then be pumped into
an underground waste disposal well for geologic storage,
removing it from the carbon cycle.
Certification:
Bluesource Madya Pradesh Wind Project

This wind power project in central India generates clean energy to
displace fossil-fuel-based grid power. The project has built 94 new wind
turbines in the state, provides direct and indirect job creation, and has
also created infrastructure that benefits surrounding villages.
Certification:
76
CarbonCure. (n.d.). https://www.carboncure.com/
77
Charm Industrial. (n.d.). https://charmindustrial.com/
SilviaTerra78
This sequestration program connects offset purchasers to high-quality
forestry carbon credits through a new Natural Capital Exchange
(NCAPX). Using satellite imagery, machine learning, and field
measurements, the program measures every acre of forest in the U.S.
annually, ensuring accountability. The NCAPX allows companies who
need carbon credits to purchase from a massive array of landowners,
large and small. It’s a massively novel attempt to scale old-growth
forest carbon credits, and it supports local communities and advances
scientific measurement of both carbon and biodiversity impact.
Certification: N/A
greenSand79
Olivine, an igneous rock, is formed in magma. It also binds CO2
through natural weathering processes, creating silicate, bicarbonate,
and magnesium. Every kilogram of olivine absorbs no less than one
kilogram of CO2. Because it is found in large quantities on
every continent and can improve the quality of soil, this
makes olivine an ideal carbon offset material. Purchasing
greenSand Clearance Certificates guarantees the
distribution of Olivine in the location of your choosing.
Certification:
78
SilviaTerra. (n.d.). https://www.silviaterra.com/
79
GreenSand. (n.d.). https://www.greensand.com/nl/doe-mee/greensand-co2-certificaten
Clearloop80
Clearloop offers businesses opportunities to support clean, renewable
energy projects in communities that otherwise wouldn’t have access.
Our contribution goes toward Jackson Clearloop 1, an installation of
approximately 3,000 thin-film photovoltaic solar modules on 12 acres
located 90 miles east of Memphis, TN.
Certification:
80
Clearloop. (n.d.). https://clearloop.us/
Step 5:
Invest in Other Areas of

Environmental Impact
It’d be easy to see

reducing your company’s carbon footprint and offsetting
your CO2 emissions as the only aim of this project. But we
believe those elements are just part of a wider approach.
Since our founding, we’ve initiated a diverse set of projects
that benefit the environment, especially through SeedLabs,
an internal research program focused on developing novel
applications of bacteria to enhance biodiversity and recover
ecosystems impacted by human activity.
Here are the areas we focus on as of today—outside of

carbon footprint and offsetting. These programs might not
be as “measurable” as carbon offsets, but we believe they
will have an impact on blunting climate change’s worst
effects. We encourage all companies following our path to
consider how they can get involved in projects that look
beyond carbon offsets—including the advancement of other
programs and areas of exploration that we haven’t thought
of yet (who knows, maybe you’ll make a field guide about it).
Biodiversity
It’s not enough to simply plant trees. We need to protect the natural
resources we have, with a focus on preserving biodiversity—the
intricate web of species that makes each biome unique and resilient.
1
Honeybee Probiotics Research
The honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) is one of our most vital
insect pollinators, supporting nearly a third of our global food
crops.81 Yet widespread pesticide use, along with climate
change, disease, and habitat loss, have contributed to a stark
reduction in honey bee populations over the past decade.82
Dr. Gregor Reid, Seed’s Chief Scientist,83 along with

SeedLabs Fellow Brendan Daisley, devised a potential
solution to improve honey bee survival using a cocktail of
three probiotic strains delivered via BioPatty™. So far, in-hive
supplementation has shown significant potential in reducing
colony loss caused by opportunistic infection (including
deadly American foulbrood disease) and chemical exposures.
Improved immunoregulation and detoxification rates are
thought to be the major mechanisms involved. Importantly,
field tests under realistic conditions in Canada and California
have shown continued promise, and the development of an BioPatty™
aerosol spray-based product is also underway.
81
Daisley, B.A., Pitek, A.P., Chmiel, J.A. et al. Lactobacillus spp. attenuate antibiotic-induced immune and microbiota dysregulation in honey
bees. Commun Biol 3, 534 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-020-01259-8
82
Daisley, B. A., Chmiel, J. A., Pitek, A. P., Thompson, G. J., & Reid, G. (2020). Missing Microbes in Bees: How Systematic Depletion of Key
Symbionts Erodes Immunity. Trends in Microbiology, 28(12), 1010-1021. doi:10.1016/j.tim.2020.06.006
83
Seed. (n.d.). Meet Dr. Gregor Reid. Seed: Who We Are. https://seed.com/we/#weboscope-1313
2
Coral Reef Probiotics Research
2
Coral reefs are one of the most biodiverse
ecosystems on Earth: around 25% of the ocean’s
fish rely on them.84 Changing environmental
conditions—rising water temperatures, pollution,
ocean acidification—have greatly affected the
homeostasis of coral reefs worldwide. The IPCC’s
2018 report estimated that a 1.5°C increase in mean
global surface temperature could reduce coral reef
populations by 70-90%—and an increase of more
than 2°C could virtually wipe corals out worldwide.85
Coral is a holobiont, a home to many other species

living in or around it, which together form a
discrete ecological unit. When coral is bleached
or infected with a disease, it harms and exposes
its inhabitants—algal symbionts, and a variety of
bacteria, archaea, fungi, and viruses—which, in
turn, negatively impacts all other biomes and their
resident organisms.
We are working with Dr. Raquel Peixoto, an

Associate Professor of Marine Science at KAUST,
to understand the benefit of probiotic bacteria
for the prevention of coral bleaching, enhancing
coral calcification, and aiding in coral growth
and resilience.86 Our collaboration also includes
the development of innovative technologies for
probiotic delivery to reef systems.
Dr. Raquel Peixoto

Associate Professor of
Marine Science at KAUST
84
NOAA. (n.d.). Coral Reef Ecosystems. NOAA Resource Collections. https://www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collections/marine-life/
coral-reef-ecosystems
85
86
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. (n.d.). Raquel Peixoto. Faculty. https://www.kaust.edu.sa/en/study/faculty/raquel-
peixoto
Education
Convincing the planet’s population that climate change is a dire
threat, and that they can act to change it, is a large part of the battle.
Here’s the knowledge and techniques we’ve applied to our science
communications and educational initiatives, thus far.
3
The Making of a Science
Communications Brand
We are a brand87 with a mission to translate spread of celery juice) to the downright
science and make learning (about bacteria, dangerous (climate change denialism and
the microbiome, human biology, and health) the surge of anti-science sentiment).
as accessible and engaging as possible. We
believe that knowledge is power, education is As a company grounded in science,
agency, and better understanding empowers we're setting a new standard not only in
better choices. the products, but also the information we
all consume. We apply the same scientific
The year 2020 and the COVID-19 rigor and accountability to the development
pandemic showed us the ease with of our pipeline as we do to our educational
which misinformation infects the media. content, customer service responses or
Confirmation bias, digital echo chambers, Instagram captions.
and the ability for anyone with an opinion
to posit expertise (especially in the areas of
health and science) has had consequences
ranging from the fairly innocuous (the viral
87
Seed. (n.d.). @Seed. Instagram. http://instagram.com/seed
Our strategy for education includes:
Research— especially via PubMed. We also query our scientists for various
inputs, studies, insights, and perspectives on topics we’re looking
to cover.
Translation— through words, design, typography, animation, sounds, emojis,

however we can trojan horse learning and meet people where
they are; sometimes that means a “fiber” streetwear tee88 and
sometimes it just means plain English.89
Edit— being concise without losing nuance takes a laborious process.

We struggle immensely with Instagram's 2,200 character limit—
it’s hard to fully explain the “alkalizing” phenomenon90 in less than
350 words. But it can be done.
Review— prior to hitting “post,” content is passed to our “peer reviewers”—

our network of scientists, doctors, and experts. This ensures
our translation offers a truthful, balanced view and presents the
current science (acknowledging disagreement, lack of consensus,
or what we don’t yet know). Whenever possible, our posts are
accompanied by citations.
Repeat— as necessary. By the time our community is reading a science

post, it's likely been through at least two rounds of edits and
reviewed by three experts in the field.
We really can’t claim credit for our approach; it’s how science has operated since 1731, when
the Royal Society of Edinburgh published the first peer-reviewed journal, Medical Essays and
Observations.91 Today, ‘peer-review’ is a cornerstone of the scientific method, a system of
checks and balances to ensure scientific integrity, quality, and credibility. We’re just trying to
perfect the best version for reaching the public while they cruise their favorite apps.
88
Seed. (2018). Extra High Fiber Content Tee. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/BmO56ZXAWwR/
89
Seed. (2018). What Is Fiber? Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/BmMDlYPAVd-/
90
Seed. (2019). Alkalize. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/BseW9ZFAykm/
91
Adler J. R., Jr (2012). A new age of peer reviewed scientific journals. Surgical neurology international, 3, 145. https://doi.org/10.4103/2152-
7806.103889
Future Projects
Our team is in constant motion, seeking new and exciting programs
to support. Here are a few that we are researching and actively
exploring. We’re sharing them here so you can consider them, too.
4
Biodiverse Community Forests
By first restoring the biodiversity and microbial signature of the soil, Sugi and their partners
build community forests in concert with indigenous communities.92 Resilient and dynamic
forests—key carbon skinks—are supported by the health and diversity of their intertwined
ecosystem microbiome, the community of bacteria, fungi, and archaea that perform critical
processes and operate as the highway system between plants and trees.93 Sugi builds diverse
ecosystems that focus on the soil, shrub, subtree and tree canopy, which restore biodiversity
to areas overcome by monoculture.
92
Sugi. (n.d.). https://www.sugiproject.com/
93
Petr Baldrian, Forest microbiome: diversity, complexity and dynamics, FEMS Microbiology Reviews, Volume 41, Issue 2, March 2017, Pages
109–130, https://doi.org/10.1093/femsre/fuw040
Biodiversity
How We Did It
Credit Pg. 67
5
Biodiversity Credits
Biodiversity credits are similar to the carbon credits used in
carbon offsets: they can be purchased to compensate for
a loss of biodiversity in a system often called “biodiversity
banking.” The United States, Australia, and Canada all have
biodiversity credit programs, though each is different and
relates to specific national legislation.
Biodiversity
Credit
Biodivers
Credit
What We're Missing

Our approach today is not comprehensive and we have a long way
to go—especially in our efforts to support programs focused on
environmental justice and aiding frontline communities. We are
just beginning to learn how we can be impactful in this and other
areas. We are challenging ourselves to build out this portfolio of
environmental programs in the future, and hope others that read this
guide will challenge themselves, too.
Step 6:
Peer Review
and Iterate
In the murky world

of carbon footprint audits, carbon credit offsets, and
greenwashing, the steady rhythm of the scientific method
has grounded us and kept us on the right path toward
improving our environmental impact. Make an observation;
ask a question; create a hypothesis; make a prediction;
test that prediction; and iterate new hypotheses and
predictions. This is truly the process that got us from a single
question (how do we make sure we’re not contributing
to anthropogenic climate change?) to a concrete carbon
footprint, carbon offset portfolio, and an executable list of
programs that we believe will benefit the planet.
In particular, we believe two elements of the scientific

method can benefit any company that wants to minimize its
environmental impact: stringent peer review and iteration.
Peer Review
We’re a company that has always been We relied heavily on peer review in deciding
grounded in science—which makes peer our actions to become net carbon negative.
review part of our DNA. Yes, having a peer We have also had a cross-section of
pick apart your work is painful. It’s also often scientists and experts peer review this very
the only way to remove bias, call out conflicts field guide. We’re extremely grateful to our
of interest, and just plain improve. Without peer reviewers for this project, which include:
it, the papers published in scientific journals
might fail to answer meaningful research
questions or draw inaccurate conclusions.94
Outside of research publications, peer review
provides vital feedback to ensure accuracy,
comprehensive coverage of a topic, and even
just give “fresh eyes” to something we’ve
been staring at for far too long.
Jake Sargent I wonder if there's a way here to acknowledge other sources of

Founder of Atmos greenhouse gases–geological methane in the extraction and
transportation of oil and natural gas, biological methane from industrial
agriculture, hydrofluorocarbons in refrigerants. It might give a more
rounded picture of how industrialization causes climate change.
I would also speak to how not all tree-planting initiatives are created
equally. A good tree planting program should aim to restore a forest to
its level of biodiversity before human intervention, rather than creating
"tree plantations."
Jake Sargent is the founder of Atmos, a biannual magazine and digital platform curated by an ecosystem
of adventurers, creatives, and journalists dedicated to pioneering the exploration of climate and culture.
He also co-founded Magic Hour VC in 2017, and has since backed companies that further environmental
consciousness, human wellness, and cultural resonance.
94
Kelly, J., Sadeghieh, T., & Adeli, K. (2014). Peer Review in Scientific Publications: Benefits, Critiques, & A Survival Guide. EJIFCC, 25(3),
227–243.
Max Moinian I love the idea of praxis: action that is thoughtful and thought that is
Co-Founder of active. We will never know everything or have all the information, and
Future Earth as we grow and build we can also do the work. [37]
Dr. James Holdren has said that "Global Climate Disruption" is a

better term than climate change or global warming - to signify that it's
nonuniform, irregular, etc. I always liked that framing.
I love this quote by Rebecca Solnit: “People have always been good at
imagining the end of the world, which is much easier to picture than
the strange sidelong paths of change in a world without end.”
Max Moinan co-founded Future Earth, a digital climate education platform, along with influencer and
activist Steph Shepherd. Max went to MIT where she received her masters in City Planning and did her
thesis on The Urban Age in Climate Change.
William B. Miller, The Field Guide is an inspired idea that is expertly executed. It's
M.D. thoughtfully conceived, well-organized, and will be a highly useful
Physician, Evolutionary resource to readers.
Biologist, and
Author
An underappreciated aspect of climate change is the range of
ramifications of even rather small climeratic shifts on microbial
ecosystems. Although this is touched upon in discussing honeybees
and corals, and it is mentioned as an issue for vector borne diseases,
it is suggested that this issue should be more directly addressed in the
'Symptoms of Climate Change' section. This could represent a brief
introductory discussion, and the aforementioned would then represent
specific instances. The direct impact of climate change on patterns of
infectious disease deserves emphasis since it is arguably one of the
most consequential aspects of climate change.
Dr. William B. Miller is a physician, radiologist, evolutionary biologist, and lecturer. He authored the book
The Microcosm Within: Evolution and Extinction in the Hologenome and serves as the co-editor of the
Society for the Advancement of Meta-Darwinism.
Jordan Daly Carbon Dioxide + Human Behavior is the issue. I think it's important to
Co-Founder of communicate that CO2 itself is not bad, it's amazing actually - without
Upwards it the oceans would be frozen, ph levels in blood and respiration is non
existent.
Co-Founder of Upwards, Jordan Daly weaves together systems thinking, agriculture, and the inner
landscape to translate global-scale initiatives to practical application and develop frameworks for
organizations and communities.
Emitwise Emitwise’s goal is to accelerate the transition to a net zero carbon

Data-Driven Carbon world through innovative technology aimed at companies looking to
Footprinting reduce their carbon footprint.
Here’s a space for your own

peer review notes
Cultivating the Capacity for

Negative Capability
Translation: It’s good to practice sitting in uncertainty—to profess
that some things are unknowable. A shift in perspective(s) is not
only permissible, it’s necessary for the evolution and progression of
people and ideas. We acknowledge throughout this living, breathing,
and iterative text that we do not (nor will we ever) possess all of the
answers to save the planet. (As new technologies emerge, so too will
our collective solutions to the climate crisis.)
This field guide is merely a beginning. It’s a tangible imprint of

our learnings as well as our failings. We continue to uncover new
information every day regarding the reduction of our human impact
on the environment, and we’re eager to improve our approach (ad
infinitum) so that we may sustain the future of our Earth.
We are all being called to protect our planet. But will we act? Or will we
answer with apathy?
In the spirit of taking action, we kindly encourage you to contribute

a verse (or many) to this field guide, in the form of rebuttals, insights,
your own field notes, poems, musings, citations, sources, questions,
and inflections.
Now, off(set) you go …
Carbon
OffsetsNegativ
5
(And Other
e5 (And
Ideas
Other
6
) Vol.
Ideas
17 Synthesized
6
Get in Touch Pg. 75
Get in Touch
eco@seed.com
Get in Touch Pg. 76
Sustainability Partners
Our Packaging Partners And Other Great Vendors
Nuova EcoEnclose
https://nuova.us/ https://ecoenclose.com/
Elevate Packaging Better Packaging Co.

https://elevatepackaging.com/ https://www.betterpackaging.com/
Typecraft Grounded Packaging

http://www.typecraft.com/live2/ http://www.groundedpackaging.co/
what-we-do.html
Sulapac
PaperFoam https://www.sulapac.com/
https://www.paperfoam.com/
Trifilon
Favini https://www.trifilon.com/
https://www.favini.com
Loop Industries
KTM Industries https://loopindustries.com/en/
https://greencellfoam.com/
Lumi
https://www.lumi.com/
Ecovative
https://ecovativedesign.com/
Veritiv
https://www.veritivcorp.com/
LA Compost
https://www.lacompost.org/
Get in Touch Pg. 77
Offset and Biodiversity Partners Carbon Accounting
Project Drawdown Emitwise

https://drawdown.org/ https://emitwise.com/
Pachama Metric | ESG Analytics

https://pachama.com/ https://metric-esg.com/
Patch
https://patch.io/
Blue Source
https://bluesource.com/
Ecoera
https://ecoera.se/
Carbon Cure
https://carboncure.com/
Charm Industrial
https://charmindustrial.com/
Silvia Terra
https://silviaterra.com/
Green Sand
https://www.greensand.com/nl
Clearloop
https://clearloop.us/
Sugi
https://sugiproject.com/
Credits Pg. 78
Synthesized by the Superorganisms of Seed
Jen Zakur Tresha Paarman

EP—Creative Marketing Project Lead
John Morgan Katie Sims

VP—Ops Creative Communications Manager
Travis Spier Lily Comba

Director of Storytelling Senior Manager, Ambassadors
+ Partnerships
Chris Wright
Research + Copy Becca Malizia
Project Lead, Science Care
Chelsea Beloff + Communication
VP—Marketing
Jordie Nazzicone
Yuji Sakuma Scientific Care Coordinator
Design Director
Frances Isles
Calvin Chin Project Lead
Graphic Designer
Katya Ermak
Kate Carruth Director of Ecommerce
Marketing Coordinator
Ara Katz + Raja Dhir
Ameeqa Ali Co-Founders and Co-CEOs
Data Analyst
Erin Miller
R+D Project Lead
Kat LaBarbera
Community Manager

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﻿ Pg.

Synthesized by the Superorganisms of 8

3 The Basics: Climate Change 101 9

Step 1: Decide What Sustainability Means to You 29

This field guide is an

Let’s start from a place of

The most sustainable solution for our planet is that us humans

In September of 2020, in the midst of one of the most divisive

The climate crisis feels insurmountable—and action (especially

This Field Guide is the synthesis of our journey navigating this

As of publication: 6 years, 246 days, 5 hours

We concluded that imperfect action now is better than nothing.

So, we’re planting this seed.

We can, collectively and individually, make a difference.

This in mind, we dove deep into the murky waters of

Think of this as scaffolding to build from; a series of shortcuts to

Now off(set) you go4

And now onto...

Our journey led us to focus a significant portion of our time so far

This is an acknowledgement that there is still a great amount of

WM William B. Miller, M.D.

hesized by the Superorganisms of 8

Climate change is an enormous, complex problem. This is

Climate Change? change is farting.

A quick temp check...

Climate Change A change in Earth’s climate, attributed directly

Anthropogenic Emission Pollutants originating in human activity.

CO2 Carbon dioxide, a compound consisting of one

Carbon Footprint The sum of all CO2 emitted, usually measured

Carbon Neutral When carbon offset equals carbon emitted.

Carbon Negative When carbon offset exceeds carbon emitted.

How Humans Disrupt

We, on the other hand, don’t do that. Much

Symptoms of Climate Change

and Greenland Ice Sheet

Intersectional Environmentalism—as stated by

“We must change the rules to redistribute resources and

Principles of a Just Transition include: “Buen Vivir” (living well without

Viable climate change solutions must

How We Can Blunt the Catastrophic

Almost as detrimental as climate skepticism or denial is “climate

In 2018, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

A few examples of the benefits of keeping global

10 million fewer people exposed to the risk of sea level rise

Minimize terrestrial, freshwater, and coastal species loss and extinction

50% less land mass will undergo ecosystem transformation

Reducing the proportion of the world population exposed to a climate

Lowering risks for heat-related morbidity and mortality

Where do companies start?

That cannot happen overnight. To meet the IPCC’s goal of

being pumped into the Earth’s atmosphere and reduce demand

To meet the IPCC’s goal of holding warming to

Investment in A company’s total

Ready to zoom in?

Step 1: Decide What Sustainability Means to You

Step 2: Conduct a Carbon Footprint Audit

Step 3: Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

Step 4: Offset Your Carbon Footprint

Step 5: Invest in Other Areas of Environmental Impact

Step 6: Peer Review and Iterate

There is an inextricable link between humans and the

Since our founding, sustainability was inherently

The benefits are obvious to any startup: When your company

Pg.