You’ve likely heard the term “carbon neutral” battered around by the media, large corporations and even some countries. Microsoft and Apple both plan to be carbon neutral or carbon negative by 2030, as does the whole country of Norway. But what does it actually mean?
Many of the daily activities we don’t think twice about—such as driving to work, turning the lights on in our house and cooking dinner—produce the pollutant carbon dioxide, the harmful greenhouse gas responsible for climate change and global warming. So, by committing to carbon neutrality, it means “you have an equal balance of emitting carbon and absorbing it from the atmosphere,” says Jordan Rubin, a natural health expert and co-founder of Ancient Nutrition.
The health and supplement company is doing its part to become carbon negative through offsets and regenerative agricultural initiatives, such as planting one million superfood-bearing perennial trees, bushes, vines and shrubs—all natural carbon absorbers—and partnering with Plastic Bank to stop more than 4.5 million single-use plastic bottles from entering the ocean in 2022, as plastic has a large carbon footprint.
While you may feel powerless to effect change compared to large companies, “even small changes will reduce your carbon footprint,” says Rubin, offering up some ideas for getting started—many of which are good for both the planet and your health.
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