The Carbon Dilemma

We’re trying to be good humans, trying to do the right thing by the earth, and yet with the best of intentions we’re collectively, consistently, missing the mark.

We’re not seeing the immediacy of our current lifestyles, our current practices, the current world we live in. We’re washing our hands with organic soap, dispensed from a plastic bottle. We wait until our potted plants start to wilt and droop before we’re reminded to water them, or in our efforts to be good plant parents, we water with such enthusiasm that they drown.

It’s only when our potted plants eventually give up that we’re faced with the responsibility of our choices. Did we soak them in too much water, or starve them with too little? Were they watered too frequently, or not often enough? Did they get enough sunlight… or did they get sunburnt? Or, is it possible (plants have feelings too), that they just didn’t like us? We reflect on our past actions and attempt to extract the lesson, so that next time - we tell ourselves - we’ll do better.

The game we’re playing with Carbon is a long one. It’s simmering away in the background, awaiting our future selves and our children. The dilemma we have is that, by the time we realise we’ve got it wrong, it’s too late. Our current actions may result in catastrophic consequences, and although this feels imminent it seems to be regarded as less urgent than other pressing national and global issues we’re faced with.

The Carbon in the atmosphere is creating environmental challenges the likes of which we haven’t previously had to negotiate. We’re living in a state of consumeristic abundance. Want food? You can have a chef-quality meal cooked and delivered to your, or you can have a food box with all the ingredients delivered to you along with a recipe and a virtual chef to coach you through the making of it.

You can shop at the supermarket, your local farmers market, or receive a box of produce from a different town, city or even state. You can grow your own food too, on your own land, or your neighbours, or at a community garden.

An environmental scientist turned carbon sequestration advocate, Dr Kevin Glencross says, “We need to understand what’s at the base of anything that we consume”.

If you’re having your food box delivered, what is the cost of that? We’re not just looking at the dollar cost of each potato or green bean, or the packaging cost of your quinoa. It’s the cost to the environment to produce these items. The water and soil nutrients required to grow the plants and grains, the production cost of creating the packaging for the quinoa, and sending that packaging to a factory, then having the factory fill the packages with the product. How much carbon was generated in total? What about the fuel cost for the driver to deliver it to your door, and is that balanced out by if you ride your bike to work tomorrow?

And even when we’ve added all that up and arrived at dollar value, and carbon score, we feel is true… what about the replacement cost of the water that was used, or the replacement cost of the energy?

Dr Glencross describes Carbon Sequestration as an accounting system for Carbon. We need our carbon sheet to balance, and we can’t wait until the end of the decade, or the century, to get our debts in order.

The forests we’re clearing don’t immediately replenish themselves, they take years - sometimes decades to regrow - and that’s only if the quality of the soil remains fertile enough to allow further planting.

Our commercial, agricultural and industrial emissions are tipping the scales in one direction, we need to find balance in order to create a sustainable future. And what exactly is a sustainable future? In its simplest form, we need clean water, clean food and clean air. Without these, our planet and everything on it will wilt and droop. Us included.

Every action has a carbon footprint. It’s either carbon negative, carbon positive or carbon neutral. As a global community, our collective goal should be to reach carbon neutrality in order to allow future generations to live healthy, abundant lives.

Although it’s not currently the case, Dr Glencross suggests that one day farmers - and potentially all businesses - will be required to pay a fee associated with their carbon output.

Following a 5 year PhD in forestry and replanting rainforests, Dr Glencross has a deep understanding of fundamental principles in planting, growing, soil health and regenerative agriculture.

New South Wales was the second government in the world to introduce a carbon legislation and greenhouse gas emissions accounting system, demonstrative of the necessity to account for our inputs and outputs. As a leading exporter of gas and coal, Australia has the opportunity to lead the way in carbon administration and best practices.

Dr Glencross is an advocate for the Byron Shire and it’s local agro-eco-tourism opportunities.

“We’ve got a pedigree of quality, sustainable producers here in Byron, and an increasingly broad awareness of the connection between product and production. Our children know that steak comes from cows, we’re educating our community”.

“We want farming and agriculture to be beneficial to our communities and to the environment. If we can all agree on this, we can work together to create better upstream and downstream practices around carbon”.

The Farm is a unique environment for Dr Glencross to study. With a macadamia farm, livestock, a market garden and reforestation, the biodiversity allows for multiple soil sampling locations and readings over time, to both intuit and interpret what can be done to improve and sustain soil health on both The Farm at Byron Bay, and other Farms in the Shire and beyond.

The upcoming Carbon Sequestration Forum on June 23rd will be the first of a series of Forums aiming to access and analyse soil health and carbon content, designed to educate and inform local farmers of positive farming practices to account for carbon. Dr Glencross shares the perspective of many local farmers and businesses in the Shire, that localisation is an essential part of minimising carbon while increasing net business and environmental sustainability.

One of the ways in which localisation plays a part in carbon sequestration, is through the practice of local offsetting. Instead of going to a global entity to sell carbon credits, local farms can partner with local businesses within their own shire to offset carbon emissions.

It sounds surprisingly simple. What’s really required to make it happen is a wider educational movement within the community of our actions and their associated costs - and a shared vision of a bright, clean future for generations to come.

The Farm at Byron Bay is hosting the Carbon Sequestration Forum on Thursday 23rd June from 9.00am to 2.00pm, as an open invitation to the local community to learn more about carbon and sustainable farming practices.

Tickets are just $20 and proceeds are donated to the Northern Rivers Flood Relief.