Sustainable Investing in Tree Archives, Oyster Castles, & Floating Islands? – Meet the New Eco-Technology Portfolio!

In order to understand sustainable investing or eco-investing, it helps to understand the ‘eco-functions’ of nature at its most basic level – facts that we as humans take for granted, sometimes ignore, but more often overlook.

To begin with – let’s take a look at some of the ‘eco-functions’ of a tree – for who hasn’t crayon-colored a tree in school when they were just a kid? For me, it’s one of the earliest memories of my childhood – a brown stick-looking figure with an out-of-control leafy hairdo! But it wouldn’t be till much later that I figured out how important trees are to my health rather than to climb them.

Fact#1 – Trees are in essence bio-filters – they filter out pollutants from the air and the soil as well as store carbon dioxide in their wood, leaves, and roots.
Fact#2 – Trees are not only a tremendous source of food for birds, insects, mammals, and rodents (and our own dinner table) – but 40% of our medicines can be traced back to trees.
Fact#3 – Trees are not only drainage stoppers – controlling our soil erosion by straining and slowing down storm water runoff and recharging our aquifers – but they also act as outdoor control panels – moderating ground temperatures and providing windbreaks and glare reduction from nearby sidewalks, pavement, and buildings.

Today, there are many non-profit organizations and companies that now specialize in tree conservation projects and tree restoration programs in which one can invest in – but the one that intrigues me the most for it’s creative new age way of promoting ‘tree-technology’ aka ‘the eco-functions of a tree’ – is that of the “Archangel Ancient Tree Archive” based in Michigan – a non-profit group dedicated to collecting, archiving, and cloning genetic material from the ‘granddaddies’ of all trees – the oldest, the biggest, and the most important trees on the planet such as the California Redwoods, the Giant Sequoia, and the Ancient Irish Oaks.

Another fascinating non-profit group bringing new light to the meaning of ‘eco-technology investments’ is that of “The Nature Conservancy” now operating in the coastal waters off South Carolina – specifically promoting ‘oyster-technology’ as it pertains to oyster reef restoration. For it is an ‘eco-functional fact’ that the average oyster filters 50 gallons of water per day. Multiply that by thousands and you can see why oyster reefs are not only important for maintaining healthy habitats for fish, shrimp, and crabs (and providing an alternative source of protein for our own dinner table) but these same oyster reefs protect the shoreline from erosion. So in order to stimulate growth of the threatened oyster reef around South Carolina’s Jeremy Island, “mini-condos”, or “castle-like structures”, are being built using recycled oyster shells and cement to lure millions of oyster larvae to settle into and attach themselves rather than sink in the mud and die.

Lastly, a third kind of ‘eco-technology investment’ that has truly grabbed my imagination (and my wallet) is that of the Montana-based company, “Floating Island International”, started by outdoorsman, Bruce Kania, a proponent of biomimicry (the art of examining and mimicking nature’s ‘eco-functions’ to solve man-made problems), and the inventor of a new type of ‘plant raft’ or “floating treatment wetland”, a mesh of seeded recycled plastic bottles and carpet which allows plants to flourish, float, and filter out waterway pollutants. According to Bruce’s company website – “Over 4,000 islands have been launched and over 30 different applications have been identified for floating islands.”

In summary, what I love about this new eco-technology portfolio is the simplicity of both the initial eco-investment idea and the ‘eco-functions’ they were modeled after – and the simple fact that both kids and adults alike will always want to have a backyard tree, a community pond and a public beach to call their own and where recreation is safe and fun for all who use it.