Faber Becomes Carbon-Neutral in 2019

The average American emits 16.6 tonnes of CO₂ per year, but Faber Daeufer & Itrato is neutralizing its carbon footprint by supporting an innovative organization working to reduce these planet-warming emissions across the globe. Cool Effect is a nonprofit organization on a mission to reduce the carbon pollution that causes climate change. From wind energy to clean burning cookstoves, their initiatives make it easy for individuals and corporations to offset their carbon pollution and improve the lives of people around the world.

“Everybody should be doing everything they possibly can to fight climate change,” says Cool Effect CEO Marisa De Belloy. “[Carbon offsets] are a way—a simple, affordable way—to make yourself carbon neutral and to just basically do more to fight climate change right now and today. It doesn't mean that you shouldn't be doing the other stuff. You absolutely should.”

Faber accounting manager Trevor Rank explained the process undertaken by the firm. The first step was determining the firm’s carbon impact. “Cool Effect provides calculators to assist in computing the carbon output used by the firm,” Rank said. “We accumulated all of our firm’s travel, including flights, train rides, car service trips and commuting time. Based on formulas provided by Cool Effect, we were able to compute the amount of Tonnes the firm used that it should offset. In addition to that, Cool Effect has a method of calculating the amount of Tonnes of carbon that are used at each office location based on address, square footage and number of employees. We took the combination of the firm travel and the office locations to arrive at a total number of Tonnes to offset."

Once the carbon footprint is determined, Cool Effect calculates how much it costs per ton to offset the amount. For example, to offset the average carbon emissions for an American family of four, it costs $18.26 per month. Participants can then choose from a variety global projects designed to provide ancillary social benefits, including helping underserved and vulnerable populations to improve their health and financial situations, while also reducing carbon.

As stated on the Cool Effect website, each project is carefully selected, analyzed, and scientifically verified to reduce carbon emissions. Over 90% of every dollar collected goes directly to support such projects as:

• Protecting a 6,500-acre piece of land in Western Massachusetts
• Improving the sustainability of a Pennsylvania wildlife sanctuary
• Protecting and preserving the black rhino’s stomping grounds in Kenya
• Turning forest destruction to forest regeneration in Mexico
• Saving rubber trees to reduce carbon and help indigenous communities in the Jacunda Forest Reserve of Brazil
• Providing affordable and healthy cookstoves to cut harmful household carbon in Uganda, Peru, China, and Honduras

“We chose to put our money towards the general fund for 2019, allowing Cool Effect to determine where best to use the money,” said Rank.

Faber’s donation was $2,500 and the money went to support numerous projects, including Affordable Cookstoves, Renewable Energy Wind Turbines, and Native American Methane Capture.  The firm received a certificate and recognition as a Certified Carbon Fighter.

Rank anticipates that this will be an ongoing initiative for Faber, separate from and in addition to the firm’s numerous established philanthropic programs. “Cool Effect has been great to work with and they were there every step of the way with any questions we had.  They walked us through how to best calculate our firm’s carbon footprint.  In 2020 and moving forward, the firm plans on having it’s Philanthropy Committee select specific projects to support.”

To learn more about Cool Effect’s initiatives and what you can do to neutralize your carbon footprint, visit their website at https://www.cooleffect.org/.