Biodiversity.
Jobs. Climate.
Simple.
One by One, Tonne by Tonne.
Your positive actions count.
Biodiversity is at the heart of human existence, forming the web of life that provides our food, water, medicine, and a healthy climate, not to mention the beauty of nature. But it’s threatened: millions of species are at risk. Governments need to act, businesses need to act, but our own actions matter too. As well as making the right efficiency and reduction choices in transport, energy, and other areas, we can take small, conscious, positive steps to build biodiversity and protect our environment over the long term. Balance My Life exists to help each of us make the small differences that add up to a huge benefit – leaf by leaf, bug by bug, one by one, tonne by tonne.
The good news.
BALANCE® My Life is a new, simple, peer-reviewed, and highly robust way to support biodiversity and protect our future. It allows you to assess (simply based on your income bracket) your own impact or that of your entire household, and then contribute to the planting of trees in responsibly managed forests that foster biodiversity over the long term. It’s not an alternative to minimizing our own footprint but a positive action that complements those efforts meaningfully.
WHERE BALANCE® My Life COMES IN.
BALANCE® My Life is a new, simple, peer-reviewed, and highly robust way to support biodiversity and protect our future. It allows you to assess (simply based on your income bracket) your own impact or that of your entire household, and then contribute to the planting of trees in responsibly managed forests that foster biodiversity over the long term. It’s not an alternative to minimizing our own footprint but a positive action that complements those efforts meaningfully.
A better solution.
Traditional ‘carbon offsetting’ has had issues in the past – financial chicanery, too much hype, and some irresponsible planting which did not hold long-term value. Balance My Life steers well clear of the carbon cowboys, directly supporting forestry in environments that are designed to become rich in biodiversity, planted with the right species in the right places, creating local employment, and managed for long-term success over 100+ years (which is necessary because CO2’s life time in the atmosphere is 100 years. Traditional carbon credits only have a 40 year legal protection so do not work ) Balance My Life also creates employment for local people in areas of tree planting, safeguarding the forest’s future over the long term. By participating in Balance, you’re not working alone but as part of a movment that’s making a tangible difference.
Our approach is anonymously peer-reviewed and further reviewed by leading environmental authorities such as Crowther Lab in Zurich and Professor Peter Cox of the University of Exeter and is the basis of studies by six further academic institutions. The full methodology can be reviewed here (https://conseilseo.fr/methodology/).
How it works.
It’s very simple to become BALANCED, with our innovative calculator sparing you from a time-consuming and boring process of carbon assessment.
Step 01.
Complete the simple calculator (methodology developed by environmental experts Ecometrica), which can be answered either for an individual or for an entire household as preferred. It is based on your income bracket so there’s no need for receipts, bills, or fuss.
Step 02.
The calculator provides the number of Balance Units required for an individual or household to become BALANCED, based on your average income bracket footprint.
Step 03.
Choose your forest and extra tree locations. Balance Units support planting in a verified, monitored forest that respects the interests of the local communities. We also plant an extra tree local to you for each unit in a location that can be easily visited, acting as a symbol of your commitment to biodiversity and enhancing your own local environment.Purchase your Balance Units and receive a Balance certificate and a yearly update of the biodiversity and economic real-world difference you are making.
Why is biodiversity so important?
Plants, animals, and fungi don’t exist in isolation but in complex and connected ecosystems, which form the foundations of human life too. A healthy ecosystem carries out several vital roles – not just preserving the climate but also cleaning water, maintaining soil, purifying air, and recycling nutrients. A biodiverse ecosystem is also resilient and provides insurance against the unforeseen environmental events that could result from climate change or other factors. But when one part is lost, the whole ecosystem is threatened, and we are currently losing biodiversity at unprecedented rates around the world, with thousands of species facing extinction every year. Tree planting to absorb carbon only makes sense when it is permanent & sustainable over the long term and supportive of biodiversity, and provides income to local communities so that they have an interest in protecting the forests. When done in this way, it is a powerful means to protect our future.
Our partners and heritage
The founder of BALANCE, Daniel Morrell, has thirty years of experience as a climate activist and innovator in the effects of climate change. He has spoken at the United Nations General Assembly and been a climate advisor for No.10 Downing Street, as well as planting and protecting trees for clients such as Glastonbury Festival, Pink Floyd, and Joe Strummer. He is supported by a world-class team and a range of partners including the Community Forest Trust, Crowther Lab Zürich, and Ecometrica.
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