Fungi Perfecti, a company founded by mycologist Paul Stamets known for Host Defense Mushrooms, a line of medicinal mushroom products, didn’t draw the line at carbon neutrality – as of 2020, the Climate Collaborative member company announced through its 2019 Sustainability Report that it has offset its carbon emissions by more than ten times, meaning that it has gone beyond achieving net zero carbon emissions but is actually eliminating additional carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
 
In 2019, Fungi Perfecti joined the Climate Collaborative, a nonprofit organization specializing in creating operation plans for natural products companies to combat against and reverse human impacts on climate change, and committed to making reductions in areas such as energy efficiency, renewable energy, packaging, forestry, and transportation. Additionally, the company is supporting a carbon reduction project in Honduras which provides clean drinking water to rural communities, a reforestation program designed to increase carbon-sequestering forestry and end poverty through the forestry program WithOneSeed, and a biogas digesters program in Vietnam designed to reduce emissions and provide low-cost energy to rural communities.
 
“Now, more than ever before, it’s important to remember that what we do in the present moment will inevitably impact our collective future,” the company said in its announcement. “By making good choices now we ensure that the future will be a better place for both ourselves, and those who come after us. In these times of uncertainty and instability, it is both reassuring and stabilizing to remember that better days are ahead, and to focus on the ways in which we can ensure a better future for us all.”
 
In addition to specializing in natural health products, the company has conducted research and development into mycological water filtration and ecological remediation (mycoremediation), and has used beneficial mushrooms to combat Colony Collapse Disorder in honeybee populations.
 
Since establishing a sustainability committee in 2018, Fungi Perfecti has assessed its environmental impact more carefully, to determine areas which can be improved with the most impact. The ten-fold carbon emissions offset the company achieved came through reducing internal emissions, as well as sponsorship of external carbon-offsetting projects, since the baseline year of 2018, as calculated by the average carbon emissions of each kilogram of mycelium the company has grown. Additionally, the company plans to rely more heavily on renewable energy in the years ahead, with solar panel systems installed on the roof of its main lab. Additionally, the company has been working with its energy supplier to increase the energy efficiency of its facility through lighting, HVAC, and IT solutions. Its paper packaging is 100% recycled, and all plastics used by the company are post-consumer recycled plastic. The company is currently developing a green transportation plan to improve the efficiency of its supply chain, as well.
 
The company also contributes funding toward bee colonies, having donated $50,000 last year to Washington State University’s bee research program, supported peer-reviewed research on the benefits of mycelium extracts in honey bee populations, and committed to developing a mycelium extract feeder kit to support the health of bee colonies everywhere.