For Life Itself Hangs in the Balance

We see new stats every day. Numbers that prove our planet is warming at alarming rates, threatening the extinction of 35% of plant and animal species by 2050.² To humanize haunted warnings, we’ve turned to wildlife. Who can forget polar bears hanging on for their lives to floating rafts of ice where there once were glacial plains?

Aeriz is rooted in the belief that nature has the power to heal, the beauty to inspire, and the magic to bring us together in never-ending awe. Without nature, we’re nothing. Of course, this factored into our decision to grow aeroponically; we waste no soil and save thousands of gallons of water by recirculating it. And of course, our packaging is increasingly sustainably sourced and recyclable. Still, we knew we could do more to return nature’s many favors by taking accountability for our part in her gradual decline.

Our planet is pleading with us to restore equilibrium; thankfully, there are organizations, like Pachama, heeding her cries by tuning into the universal tongue of all life on Earth – carbon.

It may seem counterintuitive that carbon is both essential for life on Earth and a major factor in our distant demise, but that’s the precarious point. Because Earth and our atmosphere form a “closed environment,” the amount of carbon (re)cycling between both is fixed and unchangeable; the existential problem lies with where carbon is stored.³

Since the creation of the planet billions of years ago, Earth and our atmosphere have perfected a perpetual cycle of give and take; carbon is released into the atmosphere during wildfires, volcanic eruptions, and when organisms die. These natural occurrences are known as carbon sources. On the other hand, carbon sinks absorb carbon from the atmosphere, stowing it in their depths for centuries. The largest carbon sinks are the ocean, soil, and forests.

Humans emerged on this floating rock roughly 300,000 years ago and until the late 18^th century, atmospheric CO2 levels remained steady at 280 PPM (parts per million). (This means that for every million molecules of dry air, 280 of them are carbon molecules.) At the time of this writing, we’re at a staggering 426 PPM⁴– the highest amount of atmospheric carbon observed in over three million years,⁵ far surpassing the “natural increase observed at the end of the last ice age 20,000 years ago.”⁴

To live in a world unwilling to address the impending and upending situation is careless, and frankly pretty morbid. On the other hand, to propose that we collectively stop creating any emissions altogether is wildly naïve. So where do we turn?

We turn to trees. As you’ll recall from middle school biology, they absorb carbon dioxide and release it as oxygen through photosynthesis. Trees take in 30% of our annual global emissions,⁶ making them beyond deserving of every hug they get. But it’s literally so much deeper than that.

It’s time we regard trees more holistically. Thanks to the likes of Suzanne Simard, forest ecologist and author of Finding the Mother Tree, we’ve learned that not only do trees store carbon deep underground in their roots, but “carbon moves from one source tree to a sink tree…and trees have control over where and how much carbon is moved.”¹ Referred to, adorably, as the Wood Wide Web, trees are “interconnected by fungi in a complex pattern that fuels [generation] of the entire forest.”¹ At the center of this intricate design are Mother Trees – the largest, elder trees that spread their resources and resilience far and wide.

As humans continue to exploit the forests for the trees, we’re not only robbed of trees that absorb the increasing amount of carbon in our atmosphere; we’re disrupting the stability of ancient carbon-storing systems that take centuries to rebuild.

Witnessing the massive devastation of the Amazon rainforest in their Argentinian homeland, the founders of Pachama put their technological savvy and compassion to use. While Pachama’s grand ethos is to “protect and restore nature,” they do so by “leveraging carbon markets to help funding flow to forest ecosystems and communities that need it most.”⁷

Carbon market – huh? My initial thought too, so I’ll interject in the first person for a moment. In researching this article, it’s become apparent that it’s important that everyday people, like you and me, have a basic understanding of this market (and carbon in general) if we’re to feel any agency in addressing climate change. So, bear with me as I – a marketing professional with zero concept of global markets – attempt to get us on the same page.

The crux of the carbon market lies in measuring carbon levels in critical forests (carbon sinks) and investing in these places via corporate partnerships. Incentivized to make vetted “good on their climate commitments,”⁷ corporations “pay” for their carbon emissions by buying carbon credits. Carbon credits fund projects that either a) stop planned deforestation to halt carbon emissions or b) plant trees and restore ecosystems to sequester more carbon. One ton of carbon emissions is equal to one carbon credit with the price per ton of carbon emissions (paid for by the corporation) fluctuating by project.

The carbon market trades on these metrics, providing a way to measure impact by “translating the emissions of one company into an investment that goes towards avoiding or removing those emissions elsewhere.”⁷ Here, it’s good to keep in mind that on a global lens, “it doesn’t have to be that the same emissions [from corporations] need to be avoided;” simply, if one ton of carbon “goes into the atmosphere,” that same ton “needs to be taken out or avoided” somewhere else.⁷ Balance.

The carbon market itself isn’t necessarily unique to Pachama, but the standards and technology used to analyze and continually monitor global impact very much is. Pachama relies on LIDAR, AI, satellites, etc., to calculate the biomass (“organic material or waste that contains chemicals like carbon, hydrogen, and other components”⁸) of entire ecosystems to comprehend the carbon story in that area. For these carbon “stories,” if you will, to become a Pachama project, they must abide by a criterion of strict quality standards that exemplify how the project will make a positive impact for both the ecology of that region and the community. While we won’t get into that entire process, it’s important to note that every Pachama project must first obtain the consent of the local community, those who have relied on that land for generations. For Pachama to go forward with a project, it must foster a greater benefit to the community, ecosystem, and biodiversity than the proposed land use alternative.

Once a project is deemed viable and the numbers are in place, corporations can choose which project they want to invest in. Pachama leads every step of the process with quality and transparency, virtues dear to Aeriz since day one.

For a market that inundates its audience with the word “green” more than most, cannabis production is shockingly ungreen. Depending on where cannabis is grown in the United States, it’s estimated that “emissions associated with growing one ounce of cannabis indoors is about the same as burning 7-16 gallons of gasoline.”⁹ That’s about 10 times the amount emitted for wheat and corn, roughly equivalent to the “climate impact of a pork roast.”¹⁰ Cannabis’ carbon footprint is higher due to the heating, lighting, and ventilation needed to maintain temperature and humidity control as well as a lack of regulations for the expanding market.¹¹

After launching in 2016 and weaving sustainable practices into every aspect of Aeriz, Marketing Director Ryan Thomas believed more could be done. As a life-long steward of environmental causes, he wanted to give back in a way that made sense for Aeriz while also reflecting a self-awareness of the impact of cannabis production. Having read about Pachama in Forbes and the like, he felt a kinship with Pachama’s philosophy that nature be allowed to do her thing. Aeriz’ aeroponic ideals are based on giving cannabis plants exactly what they need to thrive, after all; partnering with Pachama allowed Aeriz to support that same idea within one of Earth’s largest carbon sinks, halfway across the world.

Since 2021, Aeriz has compensated for all nationwide production emissions. Heating, electricity, and other operational emissions are calculated annually, increasing the amount of carbon credits Aeriz purchases each year – a manifestation of Pachama’s collaborative model that relies on preservation contributions to increase as businesses continue to grow. This year, Aeriz purchased over 13,000 carbon credits to offset 13,000 tons of projected carbon emissions for 2024. With the desire to simply “allocate carbon credits to where the most good can be done,”¹² Aeriz supports Pachama’s Borneo Peatlands project, one of the largest intact peat forest swamps on the planet.

Incredibly, peat swamp forests store up to “20 times more carbon than a typical forest.”¹³ The Borneo Peatlands faced the risk of clearing for industrial timber plantations and pulpwood production, meaning that the carbon stored within its murky depths would be emitted into the atmosphere at alarming rates, threatening the global carbon balance and devastating the habitats of over 1,100 animals and 5,000+ plants endemic to the area.¹⁴

In 2010, the (Borneo Peatlands) project gained full legal control of the area, preventing commercial land exploitation and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by over 7.5 million tons. They’ve successfully halted the deforestation of 149,000 hectares (1 hectare = 2.47 acres, for reference) and plan to reforest over 4,400 more in the coming years.¹³ While the amount of life saved and carbon sequestered here is astronomical, it’s impacted local communities for the better too.

To delve deeper into the ripple effect of the positive impact that Pachama has within the Borneo Peatlands, check out their project overview.

A single tree, a single forest, a single planet – all connected by carbon. Pachama may have boots on the ground, investing in nature at the source, but organizations like them offer a tangible way for consumers to hold companies – like Aeriz – accountable.

From cosmic elements united underground to fresh oxygen dwelling in your lungs, and every terpene tickling your senses in between, you have agency in your choices and the matter at hand. A continually enchanting Earth depends on our collaborative effort to preserve and restore the global carbon balance and grow harmoniously with nature.

Mother Trees are whispering their ancient wisdom: The tipping point is now.