Our Mission
Our mission is to create the worlds first carbon negative vertical farm.
Sustainability
Carbon Footprint
We are going carbon negative!
Our plan to meet this challenge includes a diverse range of technologies and know how which will allow us to actually remove more carbon from the atmosphere than is produced from the energy we use. Plants are a great place to store carbon and is more sustainable than pumping it into the ground or making it into fuel. So we can then grow our plants in a high carbon environment, which helps them to grow faster and store carbon in them.
Its a win- win scenario!
We are also working on a way to store surplus carbon in high value non consumable product which will sequester carbon for many years and keep it out of the carbon cycle.
Resource Use
Farming uses a lot of resources. Land, Water, Nutrients and Energy are the main ones. Reducing the use of resources is an important goal to making a more sustainable farming model. At Pure Leaf Farms we use less resources to produce more food.
Land
Land use efficiency is key to sustainability. By using less land to grow more food we free up space for nature to thrive. Natural ecosystems and soils store far more carbon and provide vital ecosystem services such as creating fresh air, water and regulating climate. You can find more information about ecosystem services here.
Pure Leaf Farms can produce more than 100 X the amount of leafy greens compared to outdoor agriculture. This is good for the environment because it allows us to farm closer to cities which greatly reduces the energy used to transport the produce. For example today the majority of lettuce consumed in Vancouver is trucked up from California, Arizona or Mexico. This means that at best the salad on your plate in Vancouver, Canada has traveled over 1,200 km! In diesel trucks which pollute the air with carbon dioxide and many other more toxic compounds. We can supply local markets year-round which gives the consumer the constancy and reliability they expect. This is important because if supply chains have to rely on distant producers for parts of the year then often times the local producers get pushed out of the larger local markets.
Water
The agricultural industry uses the most water. In Africa and Asia its as high as 85-95% of fresh water use!
We use less than 2 % of the water used in traditional agriculture. We recycle and recapture all of the water in our farm so that the only water that leaves our farm is actually inside our produce!
Compositing and dehumidification plays an important role in closing our water loop
Nutrients
Good nutrients are the foundation of any farm. They can also be the most environmentally damaging element of farming.
Nutrient pollution is one of the most widespread, costly and challenging environmental problems, and is caused by excess nitrogen and phosphorus in the air and water.
Nitrogen and phosphorus are nutrients that are natural parts of aquatic ecosystems. Nitrogen is also the most abundant element in the air we breathe. Nitrogen and phosphorus support the growth of algae and aquatic plants, which provide food and habitat for fish, shellfish and smaller organisms that live in water.
But when too much nitrogen and phosphorus enter the environment, the air and water can become polluted. Nutrient pollution has impacted many streams, rivers, lakes, bays and coastal waters for the past several decades. Resulting in serious environmental and human health issues, and impacting the economy.
By using nature in the form of microbes, we are able to increase the efficiency of the nutrients that we use, this enables us to use 10X less nutrients than sterile hydroponic farms.
In addition because we are able to feed our crops exactly what they need and we can recycle the nutrients that are not taken up by the plants, we use the minimal nutrients needed.
