Balancing Carbon in Portland Oregon
This past winter, Wildwood had the privilege of measuring the 2024 carbon footprint of Leach Botanical Garden. Here’s a spotlight on challenges and opportunities associated with balancing carbon.
The plants growing in the 17 acre botanic garden sequester carbon. The largest Douglas Fir tree is centrally located near the entrance. It is over 150 feet tall and the diameter of the trunk is 65 inches! The United States Forest Service estimates that this Douglas Fir stores 16,500 pounds of carbon. As plants grow, they absorb carbon dioxide from the air and store the carbon in their biomass.
Travel is the biggest source of carbon emissions associated with the garden. Visitor, volunteer and employee travel are Scope 3 emissions. Leach Botanical Garden has no direct control over the emissions from 32,000 visitor trips to the property. However, Leach’s policies can educate and incentivize visitors when they plan trips. For a March 2025 Spring Equinox Garden Fair, Leach Botanical Garden offered free tickets to visitors who arrived on bike.
The path to Net Zero emissions is rarely linear. In 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency published the carbon intensity of the electrical grid for 2023. Portland sits in the NWPP region. This encompasses Oregon, Washington, Idaho and large sections of Utah, Nevada and Montana. In 2023, the average carbon intensity of the region increased by 4.9% compared to 2022.
Portland Gas & Electric (PGE) supplied electricity to Leach Botanical Garden in 2024. PGE has public goals of reaching net zero emissions in 2040 and sourcing 80% of power from renewable energy by 2030. As the electrical grid decarbonizes, the garden can expect the carbon intensity of their power supply to decrease. If PGE meets its targets, Leach could see zero carbon emissions from purchased electricity in 2040.
The 2024 carbon assessment reveals how Leach Botanical Garden’s influence extends well beyond its gates. It illustrates how our travel choices, power purchases and our plants all play a part in balancing carbon. Leach Botanical Garden is a delightful and instructive setting to experience this balancing act.
