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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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