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Carbon Sequestration Program
PRESS RELEASE
For immediate release
3/15/04
ESPRESSO VIVACE LAUNCHES CARBON SEQUESTRATION PROGRAM
Vivace owner David Schomer, in partnership with the Cascade Land
Conservancy Land Stewardship Program, has planted 2000 native
conifer trees in Seattle's Interlaken Park.� The planting took
place on March 11th and 12th and included Western Red Cedar,
Hemlock, and Sitka Spruce.�
The planting was conducted by Cascade Land Conservancy staff,
EarthCorps crews, Friends of Interlaken Park, and community volunteers
recruited through Vivace's staff and customers.
"I read the paper every day and never read any good news regarding
global warming, so I decided to make some." says Schomer.� "To
me it is a matter of taking responsibility for my own carbon
generation and giving something back to the city and its residents
which have treated Espresso Vivace so well."�
Roasting coffee generates carbon dioxide (CO2)by burning natural
gas.�
Schomer, in coordination with CLC Stewardship Director Pieter
Bohen, has designed this small scale carbon sequestration program
with the goal of absorbing an equivalent amount of carbon to
Vivace's annual output.�
Pieter Bohen states, "We have not yet conducted a carbon audit
of the Vivace coffee roasting operation, however David is already
discussing more plantings, which will only accelerate the timeline
toward Vivace becoming a 'Carbon Neutral' operation.� Once the
baseline carbon sequestration data for this project has been
verified, it will allow us to replicate this program to other
coffee roasters and small businesses.�
This will provide an exciting opportunity for small business
to assist with urban reforestation throughout Seattle."
This native replanting was performed in conjunction with a long-term
habitat restoration program conducted in part by the Friends
of Interlaken Park, the City of Seattle Department of Parks and
Recreation, and non-profit restoration organizations such as
Cascade Land Conservancy and EarthCorps.� States Seattle Parks'
Senior Urban Forester Mark Mead,
"Of the 3,700 acres of Seattle's publicly owned urban forest,
over 85% of these forests are dominated by red alder and big-leaf
maple which are near the end of their natural life span.� In
an undisturbed natural condition, this process would have prepared
the forest for a second re-colonization by the longer-lived conifer
species such as western red cedar and western hemlock.� However
very few of the native conifers were left to produce the seed
for conifer regeneration, and the lack of understory growth of
new trees is now compounded by the spread of invasive plants
such as English Ivy which suppress the germination and re-seeding
of all native plants and trees."�
Innovative forest restoration projects, forward-thinking businesses
such as Vivace Coffee, and multitudes of community volunteers
will ensure that the next generations of Seattle citizens will
enjoy the beauty of urban old-growth forests such as Seward and
Schmitz Parks.�
Contact info:
David Schomer
Espresso Vivace 901 E. Denny Way
Seattle, WA 98122
206.860.5869
e-mail
info@espressovivace.com
Pieter Bohen
Lands Stewardship Director
Cascade Land Conservancy
615 Second Ave.; Suite 625
Seattle, WA� 98104
206.292.5907x115
email
pieterb@cascadeland.org
Espresso Vivace plants over 4000 Sitka Spruce trees in Seattle's
Interlaken Park for 2005.
Following last year's dry April in Seattle our first planting
suffered a 90% kill rate. Working with Cascade Land Conservancy,
Vivace has planted over 4000 Sitka Spruce for 2005.
We believe that global warming presents the most signifigant
threat facing humanity in the early 21st century. Scientists
now agree that human combustion is responsible for our climate
shifting.
We see the solution in a "million points of light". Simply put:
if everyone who understands and accepts the science takes responsibiliy
for their own carbon emissions, we will far exceed the Kyooto
Protocol, and stay within the free market system that has made
the US a great economic power.
Turning our own carbon dioxide into oxygen is our point of light
in the blizzard of dismal news on our climate. And, we are restroing
the natural balance to a jewel of Seattle: Interlaken Park.
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