Brian Will is one of the first carbon neutral households in Ohio. He invited us to share at his place of employment, the Wexner Medical Center, on July 20, 2021. About 30 people attended the presentation.

At the beginning we asked, "How do you feel when you think about climate?" To which attendees answered:

• Anxiety
• Eco anxiety
• Worry
• Apprehensive
• Worried
• Challenging
• Sad

And at the end of the presentation we asked how attendees felt:

• Hope
• Hopeful
• Not alone
• Hopeful

The Sitka Spruce forests of Afognak are also home to a variety of wildlife like Kodiak brown bears, river otters, bald eagles and five different species of Pacific salmon. There may be as many as 1,000 bears on the 700 square mile island. There are about 200 methods by which project developers can generate verified carbon offsets. One benefit of forest related carbon projects is the biodiversity co-benefits. That is, by investing in these projects we're not just receiving their carbon benefits but also supporting multiple ecosystems. It's a high leverage investment.

Unfortunately, in the past some of the forest was clear-cut, leaving nothing, without any program to replant the trees.

Thankfully, this project is regrowing and protecting the forest and animal habitats with the goal to conserve this forest in perpetuity. By retaining carbon contained in the current forest biomass, sequestering additional carbon, and avoiding emissions from logging and transportation the Afognak Project will trap a whopping 1.5 million tons of CO2. This is equivalent to the emissions from 300,000 vehicles.

We invest our time researching reliable, high-quality projects, and in the future we hope to create a similar project right here in Indiana. The Afognak Forest Carbon Project is validated by the Rainforest Alliance and certified by VCS (Verified Carbon Standard),which is one of the highest ranked offset programs in the world.

This video shows what the ecosystem is like there. We're not affiliated with the company that produced this video, but we wanted to include it here to show Afognak's natural beauty:

If you’d like to learn more about the project, check out the project description, and contact us with your questions.

This post was written by Parker Angelos, and Mallory Cullen found the images.

"Daniel Poynter... spent 11 months in 2019 using his savings to study climate full time… From that process [he] and his friends 'distilled the strategy for Carbon Neutral Indiana.'"

Full story: Q&A Helping Indiana become carbon neutral

"For those Hoosiers who want to take action against climate change but just aren't sure how, there is a new Indianapolis-based organization here to help."

Full story: New nonprofit helps Hoosiers go carbon neutral

"[It] is inspiring to see local startups, such as Carbon Neutral Indiana, figuring out how to communicate with homeowners and small businesses about their carbon footprint." -Bill McKibben

Full article: The New Yorker

"[It’s] the bare minimum we need... [There] aren't one or two big answers to the climate crisis. There are 500 little things. Becoming carbon neutral is definitely one of those things. And those who have the ability to do more definitely need to do more."

"My name is Susan Fox, and my husband’s name is Bill. We’ve been married for over twenty years and live in Milford Ohio. I’m retired now, but I am a landscape architect by trade.

What resonated with me about Carbon Neutral Ohio? Well, it just seems like the bare minimum we need to do. In fact, not only do we need to be carbon neutral… we also need to be carbon negative and pull more of it out of the air than we’re putting in.

To me, there aren't one or two big answers to the climate crisis. There are 500 little things. Becoming carbon neutral is definitely one of those things. And those who have the ability to do more definitely need to do more.

We have this beautiful planet. It is amazingly restorative -- it can fix itself in a lot of ways -- but I also realize it doesn’t care about us. So if we screw things up badly enough it’s not going away. It’ll just be very unpleasant for the humans and animals that remain. And I love human life! I love cities by the water, on the beaches… I don’t want to see that go away.

There are several things I like about Carbon Neutral Ohio’s strategy:

1. It engages individuals. We can all help bring the planet a little more into balance.
2. But it’s more than individuals. I already have tons of trees on my property. I can’t plant anymore. So I need to look outside of my property to sequester more and more carbon from the air. I need to work with others to do that.
3. It’s a non-profit. This has great appeal to me. There are a lot of organizations that sell carbon offsets. It’s all about trust. How do I know they are actually having the impact they say they are? I know there are some nonprofits that aren't genuine, but I think Carbon Neutral Ohio is definitely the real deal.
4. The team wants to grow and be as effective as possible. A lot of people are doing a lot of work, and it sounds good, but are they really effective at changing things? I trust that Carbon Neutral Ohio is.
5. Everything seems so plausible. I’ve heard the founder make two presentations, and I’ve talked with him on the phone a few more times. He wasn’t promising any magic pills. Everything made sense and seems achievable.

So my husband and I are proud to be carbon neutral -- and one of the first in Ohio!"