Planting trees with our sales

A while ago we installed Ecologi on the back end of our website and offered to plant trees with sales made and were shocked to realise that we've now planted close to 12,000 trees so what does this do, how does it work and how does it help?

As a brand we only source from and sell to the UK mainland, all of our farmers are working within these shores and the regeneration is all being done here. The reason for this is simply to minimise transportation that is fossil fuel dependent, even though we use DPD's carbon neutral service for our customer deliveries the use of fossil fuels is a global, not a local issue.

We knew we wanted to go someway to offsetting the carbon produced by getting produce to us from our farmers so we looked for a global rather than a local solution and discovered Ecologi.

We chose to plant mangrove trees in Madagascar for a number of reasons, first of all is simply that in the tropics trees grow quickly meaning more carbon is removed from the atmosphere in less time, also, there are numerous social and economic benefits to this compared to say planting in Scotland.

Mangroves are a small, coastal tree species that occur worldwide in the tropics and subtropics, and are particularly proficient at absorbing carbon and storing it in their extensive root systems underground. Carbon stored in mangrove forests is considered blue carbon, because it is stored on the coast. In addition to their excellent carbon sequestration abilities, mangroves provide excellent flood and storm protection to the coastal area itself.

*Coastal wetlands can store five times as much carbon as tropical forests over the long term, mostly in deep wetland soils. The soil of mangrove forests alone may hold the equivalent of more than two years of global emissions—22 billion tons of carbon, much of which would escape if these ecosystems were lost.

Wetlands face a myriad of threats, but thanks to research and advocacy efforts, awareness is growing about the role they play in curbing climate change and coping with its impacts. It is vital to preserve healthy coastal wetlands—keeping a lid on the carbon they contain—while also rehabilitating and restoring those that already have been degraded.

 

* excerpted from the book, Drawdown

The actual planting is implemented through Eden

 

Eden hire local people to grow, plant, and guard to maturity the trees planted through funding from our community – on a massive scale. As well as restoring forest ecosystems, Eden’s “Employ to Plant” methodology results in multiple positive socioeconomic and environment impacts.

There are two key elements to successful reforestation. The first element is that reforestation must present a benefit to the local population. Due to the unsustainable relationship between the land and people, communities suffering from deforestation are often the same as those living in extreme poverty. It is essential to be committed to and work alongside local villages and communities to achieve a successful and longstanding reforestation effort. Eden Reforestation Projects utilises its Employ to Plant methodology to benefit members in the local communities where we plant. Through steady employment, people living in extreme poverty can begin to afford daily necessities such as food, shelter, clothing, and medicine.

So whilst it might seem off brand for us to be supporting something so far from home, GHG emissions are a global problem.

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For the month of September we will up our offering and be planting one tree with every single separate item we sell so somewhere else, we can see restoration like this.