Buying Plantable Cards Creates Real Change
50% of the world’s forests have been cut down, and with that comes a vast array of issues from desertification, soil erosion, increased greenhouse gases in the environment, increased flooding and drought from the barren land, as well as devastating effects to the surrounding communities. I wanted to find a way of helping projects around the world, which would make real change to not only the environment, but also the communities of people who live there. I came across Tree Nation and discovered the amazing tree planting projects they have set up. They run 30 tree planting sites around the world, and have planted an incredible 7,629,991 trees so far.
One order = one tree planted
Towards the end of last year, I started to think about how to maximise the impact of Loop Loop. I wanted to use the purchasing of plantable cards, not only to grow flowers to help the bees, but to make an even bigger difference. I thought how incredible it would be if we could plant a tree with every order. So in November, we became one of Tree-Nation’s partners and started to do just that. Thanks to all of your orders of plantable cards, we have planted 778 trees so far, as part of a reforestation project in Madagascar. That equates to 0.26 hectares of land and 15.56 tonnes of carbon captured. At the end of every month, we will work out how many orders of plantable cards and Loop Loop products have been made and then make a donation. You can see Loop Loop’s growing contributions to this project here.
Environmental change through tree planting
As forests are restored in Madagascar, disasters like flooding and erosion are reduced. Soil quality, fisheries, and farming improve, and wildlife returns to their natural habitat. Tree planting has an incredible environmental impact. Tree-Nation outlines the plethora of benefits here, which includes;
- Purifying the water and locking more water in the soil by filtering it through tree roots. This process prevents erosion and reduces the risk of flooding.
- Securing water supply, as a third of the worlds large cities water supply rely on water from protected forests
- Purifying the air and providing humans with oxygen. It’s estimated that 1 acre of trees can provide the oxygen requirements of 12 people for a year!
- Absorbing carbon and other harmful gases from the atmosphere
- Creating shade which in turn cools the earth
- Spending time in nature and around trees improves our mental health
- Providing habitats for fauna
- Tree roots prevent the soil from eroding and provide much needed shelter for the soil underneath
Social change through tree planting
The social impact is equally as important as the environmental and enables members of the community, who are living in extreme poverty, to earn a fair wage. As a result of their participation in the projects, they are able to afford daily essentials like clothing, food, medicine and shelter.
Through the Eyes of an Employee
Through the establishment of this reforestation project in Madagascar, the quality of the employees' lives and their families is vastly improving. An employee of the project, Justin, shares his experience of joining the project here. Prior to working with Tree-Nation, he was a rice farmer and a charcoal maker but could never make enough money to feed his family and he would often lose sleep due to his financial worries. In 2019, Tree-Nation opened up a new site near him and he allowed them to build a 100,000 pot nursery on his property. He has now taken the lead role on the project and is able to feed his family without worrying. Justin said,“I feel happy. It is like the sun is rising on my life. My heart is lit up as I am old, and I can make a living.”
Every single order of seed cards, prints or notebooks through the website directly helps improve the environment and the quality of people’s lives, just like Justins. Check out the range of Loop Loop plantable cards here.
