Offset Portfolio: Grassroots Carbon
About Grassroots Carbon
Location: Texas and the Great Plains, USA
Offset Type: Soil
Grassroots Carbon is a public benefit company that provides certified soil carbon storage credits. They work with ranchers and land stewards using regenerative farming practices that help the soil capture more carbon. Their goal is to create the most scientifically rigorous and rancher-friendly soil carbon credit possible. To do so, they follow the Regenerative Standard to certify their projects. They also support ranchers’ switch to regenerative practices by helping them access necessary upfront capital.
Why Soil?
Soil is a large, natural carbon sink, holding three times the amount of carbon currently in the atmosphere. However, since inventing agriculture, people have reduced the carbon content of cultivated soils by 50-70%. When land stewards use regenerative ranching and farming practices to store carbon from the atmosphere in the earth, they restore nature’s carbon cycle and boost soil health. Project Drawdown estimates that regenerative annual cropping can sequester 14.52-22.27 gigatons of CO2e between 2020 and 2050.
Carbon Offset Evaluation
The science of soil carbon measurement is relatively new and still being developed. We picked Grassroots Carbon because of their dedication to the scientific rigor and transparency of their methodology. The Regenerative Standard relies only on direct measurement of soil carbon, rather than models.
The Commons community is supporting projects that work with local communities primarily in Texas, but also in Nebraska, South Dakota, and Kansas.
Read our full evaluation for more details →
Commons' Community Impact
The Commons community started supporting Grassroots Carbon in 2021. Our initial purchase was certified and delivered in October 2022. We will be purchasing credits from a cohort of landowners in Texas and the Great Plains. These cohorts of landowners are generally a healthy mix of those who are new to regenerative practices and those who have been doing it for some time.
Commons' Offset Portfolio
Supporting carbon offsets can be a powerful way to invest in green technologies and protect natural ecosystems. But they aren’t a silver bullet – each project has a unique set of risks.
With the Commons Offset Portfolio, we do the work to maximize your impact. Just as you wouldn’t put all your money into one stock – we don’t put all your dollars into a single offset project.
Read more about the the Commons' Offset Portfolio →
