Co+op Forest

(City Market General Manager, Pat Burns, in front of a virtual Peruvian forest)

As a member of the National Cooperative Grocers' Association (NCGA), we occasionally have to travel across the country for conferences and learning opportunities.  In 2012, NCGA staff and member cooperatives logged approximately 2.5 million miles of air travel for business.  That's about 5 round trip flights to the moon!  Rather than simply buying and trading carbon credits, NCGA wanted to mitigate the environmental impact of this necessary business travel and neutralize our combined carbon footprint in a more meaningful and lasting way.

NCGA has partnered with the PUR Project--an international collective that develops socio-environmental projects to regenerate, revitalize and preserve the ecosystem in partnership with disadvantaged communities--to regrow a sustainable forest in Peru. The Co+op Forest is part of Pur Project’s Alto Huayabamba Project, a reforestation program that partners with 1,800 indigenous farmers belonging to the ACOPAGRO cacao cooperative.  NCGA is the PUR Project's first US partner, and together we've already funded 1,400 trees!  Click here for more information about this program.