The term “net zero” is becoming more and more common, and it sounds great! Most of us are all for it, but can we explain it to our neighbors or administrations? Understanding net zero in the context of carbon emissions is crucial for effective communication and action toward sustainability goals. Let’s dive into what net zero truly means, why it matters, and how it can be achieved.

What is Net Zero?

In simple terms, it means producing zero greenhouse gas emissions. Activities that produce emissions:

• Burning gasoline in cars and buses
• Burning natural gas in a boiler room
• Burning natural gas to heat a swimming pool
• Buying electricity from a power plant that burns something to produce electricity
• Are you seeing a trend?  We need to stop burning stuff. 🔥

The ultimate goal is to achieve a balance where the net effect on the climate is neutral, thereby halting the progression of global warming (why it’s so important!) Another way to talk about “net zero” is “a carbon footprint of zero.”  You might say, “Our senior living community has a carbon footprint that equals “0” thus, we have achieved our carbon-neutrality goal!” 

Can a senior living community eliminate all of their emissions? Probably not but we can get close.

To get us to zero, we may have to find ways to remove or “sink” emissions and as a last resort, to eliminate the remaining 10% or so, use offsets (we will get into that later.)