Over decades of growth and restructuring, the climate-focused nonprofit We Are Neutral became a powerhouse of sustainability within the community.
Formerly called "Neutral Gator," the organization planted 200 trees to offset a Florida-South Carolina football game. Now, it stands in collaboration with over 85 businesses and organizations to promote green efforts across the nation.
We Are Neutral, which was formed in 2007, is a nonprofit that consults businesses and residents on how they can reduce the amount of carbon their actions release into the atmosphere. The group also engages in a variety of environmentalist volunteer programs.
Director Anna Sampson, who has worked at We Are Neutral for 11 years, said the key component to environmental progress is financial backing. Supporting eco-friendly businesses — and choosing not to purchase from harmful ones — is the most effective way to enact change, she said.
“We need to be affecting policy change,” Sampson said. ”We need to be holding corporations accountable.”
The intersection of green practices and economic focus was baked into We Are Neutral from its humble onset as “Neutral Gator.”
As a small volunteer network, the group partnered with Community Weatherization Coalition, a grassroots organization focused on saving low-income residents money and resources through their utilities.
We Are Neutral and CWC volunteers installed energy-efficient light bulbs, shower heads and pipe insulation, and went over residents’ utility bills to show how their energy consumption habits affected their pricing.
The effort worked two ways — it saved consumers’ money and reduced their use of carbon-emitting services like electricity.
We Are Neutral’s involvement is less direct, but CWC’s energy tune-ups are still active to this day. Keeping sustainability affordable and accessible only grows in importance each year, said CWC Program Director Alane Humrich.
“From an equity standpoint, it’s more important than ever just due to the fact of the pandemic and inflation,” she said.
We Are Neutral plans on providing calculations for the coalition’s water conservation efforts and carbon offsets, she added.
In its growth, We Are Neutral more recently fosters a platform for its partners.
The organization offers free consultations with businesses to look at their practices and what areas can be improved in sustainability and offsetting emissions.
Carbon offsets estimated by We Are Neutral are also checked to match Verified Carbon Standard and Climate Action Reserves — two national-level organizations experienced in carbon credits.
Beyond consultations, the organization serves as a promotional piece for its eco-friendly partners.
Nikki Kragiel, co-founder of local furniture company Brave Space Designs, said sustainability efforts have always been a part of her company’s mission since it opened in 2005.
Given the company already sourced out sustainable manufacturing suppliers and organic materials, We Are Neutral instead focused on advertising Brave Space Designs — which was formerly located in New York — in the Gainesville community, Kragiel said.
“They highlighted our message,” she said, “They were including us in advertising campaigns and local community events revolving around that message.”
We Are Neutral also regularly puts boots on the ground, planting trees and tabling at events.
In 2020, We Are Neutral worked with the Ashton Biological Preserve, a nonprofit focused on preserving critical uplands habitats in rural Alachua County, where it manages around 100 acres. We Are Neutral worked with the organization to plant trees.
Chase Pirtle, Ashton Biological Preserve’s animal care specialist and habitat manager, said the collaboration came at a critical time — the preserve was having difficulty finding volunteers as a result of the pandemic.
“Especially when everything was shut down due to Covid they were a godsend for us,” he said.
We Are Neutral reported it planted 70,489 trees in 2022 and 62,439 in 2021.
The organization also maintains a monthly volunteer calendar on its website showing any events it or its partnered groups are hosting.
The next event of focus for the organization is April 20, Sampson said, when We Are Neutral will participate in The Amazing Give, a 12-hour fundraising event for local nonprofits. The nonprofit has an anonymous donor who will double all donations raised in the fundraiser.
While climate and sustainability concerns require a change from the top government and business levels, Sampson said she believes that through community education and activism through organizations like We Are Neutral, the hope of positive change is brighter than ever.
“We are too resourceful and too brilliant to not be able to solve this,” Sampson said.
Contact Aidan Bush at abush@alligator.org. Follow him on Twitter @aidandisto.
Aidan Bush is a fourth-year journalism major and the Summer 2024 Editor-in-Chief of The Alligator. In his free time, he likes to listen to music and go kayaking.
