Carbon Neutral - Miksani’s 100% organic cotton range

Miksani’s 100% organic cotton range has been offset by Piqqo, a newly established company making waves in the voluntary carbon market. The offsets have all come from a reforestation project in Mexico that helps local land owners to manage their forest in a sustainable way.

Miksani products will feature Piqqo’s innovative labels on their garment’s swing tags. Each label carries a unique serial number that allows customers to trace the offset back to the project via the Piqqo website (www.piqqo.com)

With the carbon emissions calculated from all stages of a garment’s lifecycle by Piqqo, when customers purchase an organic cotton Miksani product they can be sure it is 100% carbon neutral. Miksani have chosen to offset the garment emissions through the Scolel Té project in Mexico.

About the Scolel Té project

The Scolel Té project brings together indigenous communities in the Chiapas and Oxaca regions of Mexico to help them manage their land responsibly and replant and protect endangered forests. It is a project under the Plan Vivo System which is a structure for community land use projects in developing states. The Plan Vivo System provides a way for farmers and land users to create plans to preserve and restore the land and forest areas through reforestation initiatives.

How does it work?

Small scale farmers from indigenous communities in Chiapas and Oxaca are joining cooperatives and associations to make sure their land is being farmed in a sustainable way. Operated by the NGO Ambio, they also undertake replanting and pledge to protect the forests, some of which are endangered. As forests sequester carbon, the carbon benefits of the project can then be sold.

Social benefits

The project proves that communities can manage their land responsibly, still make money from sustainable farming and extra money from carbon credits. It is estimated that 2,400 Mayan and Mestizo families are involved and close to 50 communities.

Environmental benefits

The program is the pilot project for Plan Vivo, an organisation that works with small-scale landowners and communities to set up land management systems with technical monitoring and strict carbon accounting. Founded in 1996, the Scolel Té project has been economically self-sufficient since 2002.

How reductions happen

Reductions in carbon dioxide emissions occur through the storage of carbon on a per hectare basis. The future carbon benefits occur from the restoration of degraded forest land and also the protection of endangered forest areas. The carbon reductions are quantified by the estimated increase in the carbon stock in above and below ground biomass over 100 years.

How reductions are calculated

Carbon storage is the process that is used in calculating and quantifying the reductions. Carbon sequestration potential is measured over a period of time considering the crop rotation and climate conditions. It is measured as the amount of carbon in tonnes per hectare above an initial soil and vegetation carbon baseline.

The carbon dioxide in vegetation includes above and below ground biomass in addition to soil carbon and is also based on assumed annual timber production for the particular tree/existing vegetation. The baseline is the carbon stock in the typical tree/vegetation based on the assumed land use and long term average carbon storage. There are a range of parameters for consideration including initial biomass, species distribution, maximum growth and annual mortality amongst others.

For further information please visit www.piqqoprojects.com/scoleltetrees

Or click here:
www.piqqoprojects.com/projects/view/project/49