How is our milk carbon neutral, anyway?

Here at Neutral, we like all the questions. We get that we're a new brand, breaking into a different category of carbon neutral foods, leading the way for others to follow. There's a lot for everyone to learn. Our consumers are savvy, care about the planet, are curious, and want answers. So, we'll start by explaining how we make every carton of milk – carbon neutral. 

Neutral evaluates the carbon footprint of our milk from farm to fridge. That means we calculate the carbon impact of cow feed, the energy to run the farms, bottling, shipping, and the car you'll take to the grocery store. Neutral has a team of scientists, who work with leading experts in their field, to make these calculations based on average distances to local grocers, emissions of delivery trucks, and, of course, the carbon footprint of our dairy farms. 

Farms contribute 70 percent of the carbon emitted from this process, 20 percent of which is what the cows are eating. Neutral's focus, our reason for being, are these farms. When you drive by one of Neutral’s dairy farms, look closely. Many of our projects are happening on the ground – in the soil. Planting tannin-rich forage grasses reduce methane, and so does switching from a hay crop like alfalfa to one like sainfoin. Sainfoin contains high concentrations of methane-busting tannins. We’re working on this problem from the cow’s top to bottom, zeroing in on manure. Manure separators that separate solids from liquids reduce greenhouse gas emissions on farms. 

Not one of these solutions will solve the carbon problem of climate change by itself. We're piloting carbon reduction projects in the Northwest and the Midwest and building relationships with farmers around the country. In the meantime, Neutral supplements with carbon credits to "neutralize" our carbon output, acquiring only the strictest carbon offsets from U.S. dairy farmers verified through accredited auditors. 

We're not making promises to be carbon neutral in a decade, we've already started, and carbon offsets help make this possible. Buying Neutral milk is a simple and daily way to reduce your carbon footprint. We hope you'll join us on this mission and find Neutral at a store near you.