Shout Out to Fungi Perfecti for becoming >10x Climate Positive
We wanted to take a minute and celebrate a brand that’s been leading the way and inspiring us with its sustainability policies. Over the last year, Fungi Perfecti has truly committed to sustainability and offset its carbon emissions ten times over. That’s right, Fungi Perfecti is now more than 10 times climate positive, which is a massive accomplishment.
“To help alleviate the climate crisis we face, simply committing to carbon neutrality is too little, too late,” said Fungi Perfecti founder Paul Stamets. “By offsetting >10x the carbon we emit, we are doing more than our share. We hope others will also adopt this >10x Climate Positive initiative.”
Fungi Perfecti became climate positive in two ways: by limiting the negative impacts of their business and by sponsoring global carbon offset projects.
Carbon neutrality is the first step to sustainability
Carbon footprints are measured by how much carbon dioxide a company produces throughout its daily operation. Energy efficiency, transportation, and materials all factor into a company’s carbon footprint. Carbon neutrality is achieved when there’s a balance between a company’s carbon emissions and carbon savings.
Fungi Perfecti started its journey to carbon neutrality by establishing a baseline for its direct emissions in 2018. Having a baseline for carbon emissions allowed the company to track progress, quantify accomplishments, and set realistic goals.
“In order to better understand our climate impact, we ‘normalized’ the emissions data by calculating kilograms CO2-e (carbon dioxide equivalent) released per kilogram of mycelium we grew,” said Fungi Perfecti in its 2019 Sustainability Report. “This is also known as emissions intensity.”In the report, Fungi Perfecti goes on to talk about its progress in 2019.
“Fungi Perfecti is growing, so our total emissions for 2019 were greater than 2018. However, our production efficiency increased—so our emissions intensity was reduced by nearly 15%!”
Becoming climate positive through carbon offsetting
Business can offset their carbon emissions by investing in projects that reduce emissions. These types of projects reduce emissions in a number of ways — forest restoration, alternative energy research, and community outreach.
Fungi Perfecti was very picky about the projects it invested in, only investing in what they referred to as “Gold Standard” projects.
“Choosing a fully transparent carbon offsetting partner was very important to us, and we did significant research to ensure that our efforts were going to a good cause,” said the company on its website. “We support only Gold Standard carbon offset projects. The Gold Standard ensures that not only do these projects eliminate carbon emissions, but they promote sustainable development worldwide.”
By both reducing its carbon footprint and investing in carbon offsetting, Fungi Perfecti became climate positive and then some.
“We’re proud to say that as of 2020, Fungi Perfecti is now climate positive, offsetting our baseline carbon emissions by more than ten times.”
Setting goals for a cleaner future
In its sustainability report, Fungi Perfecti outlines its commitments to becoming even more sustainable. Many of those commitments are aligned with goals set by The Climate Collaborative, which is a group of businesses from the natural products industry working to reverse climate change.
Goals set by The Climate Collaborative include:
Shifting away from fossil fuels
Improving energy efficiency
Working towards deforestation-free commodities
Improving packaging
Developing green transportation
Aside from those goals, Fungi Perfecti has also committed to collecting and recycling all of its e-waste and expanding its community outreach through its BeeFriendly initiatives.
Read more about Fungi Perfecti’s commitment to sustainability in its 2019 Sustainability Report.
