Organizers of the forthcoming Permaculture Design Course to be held at Arboretum Marbella 9-22 October have just announced that the course will be carbon neutral in order to be more sustainable and responsible.  Carbon emissions created by students in their travel to the event and also those produced by the event itself will be offset by the planting of native species of trees, plants and shrubs within the ecological park.

Using studies by the IPCC and conclusions from the Kyoto Protocol it is possible to calculate the carbon footprint of any given activity. Charities like Arboretum Marbella and climate change campaigners encourage everyone to look at their personal and professional carbon footprint and try to minimize it as much as possible. There are simple steps to achieve this, predominantly by reducing our electricity consumption by using energy-efficient products such as lightbulbs, turning off equipment when not in use and not leaving things on standby. It is also important to use efficient transport methods such as public transport and walking and riding a bicycle for short journeys to minimise the use of cars as much as possible and looking at car sharing options.

However it’s almost impossible to not produce any carbon at all, which is why carbon offsetting is popular. Planting trees to offset carbon emissions is an excellent method, as carbon is absorbed by the plants and locked into their leaves and trunks. In the case of trees, around 50% of the dry material is composed of carbon. Using a carbon calculator Arboretum is able to calculate how much carbon will be produced by their students travelling to the course and then plan to plant a range of different trees and shrubs to absorb this and care for them for at least the next 20 years.

To find out more about the Permaculture Design Course at Arboretum and register for your place please visit http://arboretumpdc.org/ or view the PDC event on Facebook.