What’s that, you say? Soil carbon sequestration? I realize it’s a mouthful, but what on earth is it? Or more to the point: What in earth is it?
Basically soil carbon sequestration is a relatively new thing in farming, designed to help reduce the amount of carbon emissions that result from typical farming practices.
I wasn’t aware of this, but land—especially farmland, forests and other fertile soil—can hold a lot of carbon. And land management is currently the second largest contributor of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the world.
Turns out, such everyday farming practices as driving a tractor, tilling the soil and grazing can all result in the release of CO2 from the soil into the air. And many believe that excess CO2 in the atmosphere has a negative impact.
But here’s the good news: Agriculture actually offers the unique ability to transform a farm or ranch from being an emitter of carbon dioxide to helping to sequester it. In other words, farms and ranches can make changes to help keep carbon in the ground instead of allowing it to release into the atmosphere.
Farm and ranch practices can help with soil carbon sequestration as part of what is known as “carbon farming”; the whole idea is to reduce the amount of carbon released from the soil.
Carbon farming (and ranching) encompasses everything from small changes in land management to the development of integrated, whole-farm plans that reduce the amount of CO2 emitted and maximize the amount of carbon kept in the soil.
Carbon farming benefits both the atmosphere and the soil, so it’s seen as an environmental win-win. Included in carbon farming are such practices as:
By using carbon farming practices like those listed above, a California sheep ranch known as Bare Ranch now expects to sequester more CO2 than it emits. In fact, the ranch estimates that it will be able to remove 4,068 metric tons of CO2 from the air annually—or the equivalent of the amount emitted by about 865 passenger cars a year.
Sheep raised at Bare Ranch are providing what’s known as Climate Beneficial™ wool for The North Face, a California-based outdoor-apparel company. Part of North Face’s Backyard Project, the Cali Wool Beanie is now one of the company’s top-selling hats.
Kudos to companies like The North Face and others for sourcing materials produced from innovative and eco-friendly environmental practices. Want more insights for choosing eco-friendly fashion? Check out these blogs:
Have you ever purchased items produced using eco-friendly methods or practices? We’d love to hear about it—just drop us a line below.Resources:
I own an organic Apiary and herb gardens in Kemptville On and yes I could not agree more with this blog post! Carbon emissions in farming is so important not only for the health of the farm but also for the whole environment. We have been working hard to keep making our land better… keep up the great posts.
ps. When Im beekeeping the air around the bee boxs not only smell devine but the air is so fresh and clean. A post on beeswax candles to clean the negative ions in homes would also be a nice add in… .
Deborah, thank you for your comments as well as your hard work. You may be interested in our 5 Things to Know About Candles blog at: https://www.norwexmovement.com/soy-based-candles/. We hadn’t heard about the beeswax and negative ions connection before, but we see that people have some interesting things to say about that topic online. Thank you for sharing!
I had never thought about paying attention to where my products like clothes come from. How would I even start finding places that are more responsible with production?
I can’t jump in feet first, but little changes from here on out would be great!
Eileen Fisher is a very eco-friendly company. It’s a little on the pricey side but you will have your classic pieces for a very long time.