National Tree Week, #TeamTrees, & More
From 23rd November – 1st December 2019, it’s National Tree Week here in the UK. While deforestation does continue to be a global issue, there is a promise of some hope on the horizon.
It’s no secret that the planet is in a state of climate emergency. Complacency and irresponsible ways of living have caused a lot of damage to the natural world. In fact, just 20 companies are responsible for a third of all greenhouse gas emissions. To try and minimise further damage to the planet, all of us, businesses included, should endeavour to make more progress in reducing our carbon footprints. Despite this stage of emergency, not all hope is lost. Many great steps are being made, including large-scale tree-planting projects and events. National Tree Week in the UK is just one of these events.
What is National Tree Week?
National Tree Week is an event that has been running since 1975 and is a celebration of British trees. Each year hundreds of schools, Tree Council organisations and others set up fun events open to the public. Many of these events are tree-planting events, but there are also exciting seminars and educational events across the country too. National Tree Week encourages all of us to think more about our environmental impacts. It also educates the next generation about the importance of looking after the natural world.
How Can You Participate in Tree-Planting?
There are many ways you can participate in tree planting. Tree planting events happen regularly across the country, and of course, if you have a garden, trees can be planted at home too! However, if you are unable to make it to any tree-planting events or don’t have any outdoor space, there are plenty of other ways you can participate!
Make Ecosia your search engine.
Ecosia is a socially responsible search engine, that uses search revenue to plant trees across the world. By using Ecosia as your main search engine, you contribute to these tree-planting projects. It takes around 45 searches for them to plant a tree, and since starting the company in 2009, Ecosia has planted over 75 million trees. Learn more about Ecosia by watching this video.
Spread the Word About #TeamTrees
YouTube star Jimmy Donaldson, also known as “Mr Beast”, has pledged to plant a staggering 20 million trees by 2020, marking his achievement of reaching 20 million subscribers. With help from the Arbor Day Foundation, Jimmy has ensured a tree is planted for each dollar donated. The #TeamTrees project launched on 25th October 2019 and in just one week, over $10,000,000 had been raised. It wasn’t just fans and followers of Mr Beast donating, either. Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, Shopify founder Tobi Lütke, Salesforce founder Marc Benioff, Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, and YouTube’s CEO Susan Wojcicki collectively donated $3.45 million to the cause. The #TeamTrees project has proven that the influence and passion of young people may well be what is needed to save our earth.
At just 21 years old, Jimmy Donaldson will certainly go down in history for harnessing the powers of social media to make meaningful changes to the environment. The trees will be planted across the globe, and planting is set to be finished by the end of 2022.
At the time of writing, #TeamTrees has received enough donations to plant 16,132,544 trees. You can learn more about #TeamTrees, or donate yourself by clicking here.
Use Shred Station as Your Secure Shredding Service Provider
At Shred Station, we have planted over 4,000 trees on behalf of our customers who opted into our Shred a Tonne, Plant a Tree scheme. We also support the Uganda Community Reforestation Project as part of our CarbonNeutral® company certification, where Ugandan communities receive money to plant trees. These trees will grow and sequester carbon, but will also benefit their local community by improving biodiversity and bearing fruit. By using Shred Station as your secure shredding service provider, you are therefore helping to make a difference. If you’d like to know more about our green initiatives, visit our shredding and the environment page.
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