Black Friday is a strange one isn’t it? It’s an American tradition designed to drive consumerism that has spread globally due to ecommerce, and now is nearly the norm and expected of any business that has its base in online trading, even here in Ireland.
The increased drive for consumers to buy has a very visible impact on the environment. From the demand for upgraded electronics leading to a global rise in electronic waste (e-waste) which is currently the fastest growing waste stream on the planet, to the fast fashion industry which is responsible for approximately 10% of global carbon emissions (Side Note: Sustainyourstyle.org has some good guides on how to reduce your environmental impact through your wardrobe). Society's ravenous drive to have the newest gadget or fashion statement combined with our casually developing ‘throw away’ attitude is a massive driving force behind the world's climate crisis.
You might be reading this and thinking, “It’s a bit rich for a company that endorses cutting down trees for fuel to be talking about the environmental impact of other industries, isn’t it?” and your opinion is duly noted. Ireland’s dependence on fuel burning stoves is something that even us at EcoFuel would like to see reduce; an increase in air to water heating, solar and wind power, and geothermal energy is the ultimate goal for the entirety of the globe and we can’t wait to see these changes come to fruition, especially with our current governments pledge to have 500,000 homes retrofitted for more sustainable heating options by 2030.
For now, we’re just a small business trying to make a change in the world. We supply wood that has been sourced in the most sustainable ways possible from suppliers who are using byproducts to prevent felling more trees and who are committed to reforestation and biodiversity conservation (check it out here). We do this because moving away from fossil fuel burning is the first step for a whole lot of people in Ireland to reduce their carbon emissions and we support little steps to make a big difference.
So, with all of this in mind, this Black Friday we’re saying goodbye to consumerism and buying for the sake of buying. Instead we’re supporting regrowth.
For every purchase made between the 22nd to the 29th of November we will be planting a native tree in Ireland. We’re teaming up with the gang in Reforest Nation and turning every order you make into a new start.
Reforest Nation are on a mission to plant 1 million trees by 2024 which might seem adventurous but with nearly 100,000 planted in their first year I wouldn't put anything past them! Not only do they have sites across Ireland (Kerry, Laois and Galway to name a few) but they're also spreading the mission across the world in Nepal, Indonesia, Madagascar, Central America, Mozambique, Kenya, and Haiti. In Ireland they only plant native Irish species of trees and only what would have grown in the area naturally in centuries past. A lot of thought goes into every sapling that goes in the ground for how the ecosystem will prosper with it's addition. And as an added bonus, if you're adopting trees you can take part in the tree planting days which gets you out in nature, getting your hands dirty and being part of the improvement.
If this sounds like something that’s right up your street (and we firmly believe it should be up everybody’s street!) then you can click here to make your own donation or click here to set up a monthly subscription to support the conservation and replanting of native trees in Ireland and around the world.
You can keep on top of our progress by checking out this lovely counter we’ve set up on our homepage. It’s super handy and updates automatically so you can watch the count rise with us.
If you’re feeling like keeping up with the cool kids you can hop on over to our social channels where we’ll be posting about our progress too, links are here, here, and here. Or if you’re the real profesh sort, LinkedIn is here.
“Great oaks from little acorns grow”
Join us in our mission to make a change...
Update...
Thanks to all of you we have far exceeded any idea of what we could achieve with this campaign and will be planting FIVE HUNDRED AND THIRTY ONE trees with Reforest Nation!
