By Sania Khalid of Ecologi
Now more than ever, are consumers and businesses demanding sustainable options for goods and services. This has led to a gap in the market for sustainable gifting. More importantly, for corporate gifting as they prove to be a powerful tool in marketing communications. Since corporate gifting occurs on a much larger scale, businesses are now taking the necessary steps to ensure that this reward scheme doesn’t negatively impact their carbon footprint. Meanwhile, individuals are actively seeking ways in which they can live a more sustainable lifestyle by gravitating towards options that allow them to help reverse climate change.
Concerns around corporate gifting can vary from whether the product itself is eco-friendly or whether the company is contributing towards the restoration of our planet. Therefore, choosing a gift that not only keeps the climate in mind but is focused on tackling the current climate crisis, will enable you to be certain that your gift hits the brief.
To respond to this increase in demand, Ecologi has created tree-planting gifts to give customers and employees an opportunity to come together and participate in collective action…by gifting trees!
Success stories
We’ve seen success with companies such as Lloyds Bank and Coop Broadband, who have used tree-planting gifts as part of campaigns aimed at rewarding staff, as well as for customer acquisition and retention.
Co-op Broadband
As part of an acquisition campaign, Co-op Broadband ran a refer a friend campaign which offered new customers a mini woodland of 100 trees to anybody who signed up (I know I would). They also gave a friend of theirs, who referred them, an additional 100 trees (also known as a spinney) to add to their own forest profiles.
Lloyds Bank
Lloyds Bank had an end of year function in 2021 where they wished to give back to their staff but at the same time encourage them to think differently about climate change. At their end of year event, they gifted a whopping 500 trees (also referred to as a woodland) to each staff member. This gift was then printed on a bookmark and hidden as a surprise in Bill Gates’s ‘How to Avoid a Climate Disaster’ book.
We asked Lloyds for feedback on their gifting experience, to which they responded with “it’s been a great feature which has given our colleagues an opportunity to take the initiative to offset their carbon footprint.”
Why tree-planting gifts?
Since 1990, 1 billion acres of the world’s forest has been destroyed and we are said to be the last generation that can help restore the planet. As a result, Ecologi has set themselves a massive goal to reduce half of the world’s emissions by 2040.
Due to this, Ecologi wishes to engage as many businesses into actively taking part in climate action. Tree-planting gifts are at the heart of exactly that. It offers you an opportunity to introduce climate action to a large group of individuals, in a positive light.
We know climate change can have negative connotations due to its portrayal in the media. However, presenting it in the form of a gift or reward instantly forms a positive association that focuses more on collective action than what would be referred to as climate anxiety. We’ve seen many people who want to get involved, just don’t know where to start. Tackling the climate crisis alone can feel rather daunting, which is why we focus largely on collective action.
What’s included?
Tree-planting gifts are affordable, zero waste and climate positive. Each gift includes a printable gift certificate with details on how you can redeem the trees. Recipients can watch the trees grow on their Ecologi profile, where they can continue to expand their own forest.
Gamification entails the use of gaming elements to make tree-planting a real-life experience, suddenly it becomes much more than just a click of a button. Not only can recipients see who gifted them the trees, but also the species, age and location of that particular tree. This provides an immersive experience, one that connects recipients to their tree-planting journey. This is why gifting trees can be the perfect option for rewarding employees, gaining new customers or retaining existing ones as it provides them with personalised gifts, just for them.
Check out our Mangrove tree-planting in Madagascar, Afromontane tree-planting in Kenya or agroforestry in Eastern Uganda.
Positive impact of gifting trees
Trees provide us with an abundant amount of benefits. Therefore, planting trees means taking the necessary steps to help restore the planet. When you gift trees as part of a marketing campaign or as a means to reward your hard working employees, you are essentially creating a chain effect of positive impact.
Our amazing community at Ecologi has already achieved some amazing results through collective action like planting as many trees as there are in Central Park each day, now that’s an incredible 23,000 trees we’re talking about. This is why we encourage businesses such as yourselves to get involved with tree-planting gifts, as it’s an exciting way to spread some cheer and awareness for climate change.
Real-life examples
Here are some of the positive impacts our tree-planting projects are having on individuals, communities & local wildlife:
- Our tree-planting project in Irregele Milato, Mozambique provides erosion control, helps the soil to retain its nutrients, improves the quality of water and creates employment for local planters and forest guards.
- Our site in Changalane will provide income to 30 full-time planters from the local village to plant and grow the seedlings
- Sites in Kenya aim to plant trees that will act as food sources, such as avocado, lemon and papaya trees for the large proportion living under the poverty line.
- Our UK tree-planting partner, the Future Forest Company is able to use Biochar and enhanced weathering to remove ten times the amount of carbon from the atmosphere per hectare of land.
- A 5-year project with One Tree Planted will help compensate for the Australian bushfires that led to the loss of vegetation and wildlife, by planting 1 million trees
Gift the planet a better future with Ecologi.
