The GROW MY TREE Blog

As we look back, it is clear that reflection is the key to growth. It is a time to celebrate our accomplishments, chart our successes, and plan for even greater impact in the future. 

This blog article emphasizes the importance of planting trees as a sustainable measure. Various benefits of tree planting are highlighted, such as carbon sequestration, biodiversity conservation, soil protection and water management. The sustainable practice focuses on reforestation and restoration projects that actively involve the community and authorities.

Impact Hero is our new brand and the evolution of our organization. Impact Hero offer a wide range of solutions for companies that have a positive impact on the environment. After two successful years of planting over 𝟭.𝟴𝟱 𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘀, we are now expanding our portfolio to make an even bigger impact.

Today, we would like to shed some light on the question of how important transparency and trust is for us. Trust is one of the core values we stand for - one which is incredibly important to all our customers, bothprivate andcorporate. Within the tree-planting sector, many insecurities circulate, not least because of negative headlines and misconduct of some players. Scandals around double-counting or unsustainable mono-culture projects are damaging for the whole sector and undermine trust for an activity which plays a crucial role in the fight against climate change and for a more just world. Many therefore ask us what we think about such problems and how we can make sure that such issues do not happen in our projects.

Thanks to you, we made it: We have become tree-‘millionaires’ with more than 1 Million trees planted since our kick-off in 2020! That is a huge milestone which we could not have achieved without you in these short 18 months - and the connected impact is incredible.

By now you know that as a team the reforestation projects we support, not only fight climate change but also help local communities and marginalized groups to have a sustainable long-term income. Since our impact with planting trees has been amazing, we decided to use our network and customer base to move beyond trees and create even greater impact! This is why we now started to tackle one of the most important environmental issues we are currently dealing with - plastic pollution.

Sharing passions or hobbies with friends is special. It brings us closer together, which is why we want to make our loved ones care about our interests. However, as environmental enthusiasts, this can be a bit tricky.

In this blog post we are happy to present our first pilot project to you. This project is being implemented in northern India in the municipality of Abohar and other neighboring villages in the Indian states of Rajasthan and Punjab. The latest IPCC report shows India needs to make drastic changes, including reducing carbon emissions, to prevent climate catastrophe. At the same time, poverty and a lack of start-up capital keep the farmers trapped in a vicious circle. So our GROW MY TREE team saw this as an opportunity to expand our roots there. 

After one year of operations, it’s time to reflect. Our Impact Report for the 2020 - 2021 season is finally here and we are excited to share with you the lasting differences we have made together as a community. ZSome key statistics that we can take from our Impact Report include that since the launch of our ever growing community we have planted over 300.000 trees . This means that more than 6.600 tons of CO2 will be sequestered year over year more than 3.000 hours of work have been provided in the Global South, more than 450 hours of education have been provided and 1,5 million m² of land restored. 

The fact that forests are burning and thus even more of the CO2 stored in trees is being released into the atmosphere is nothing short of an environmental disaster. Not only are forest fires depriving us of much needed carbon sinks, they are even turning the large areas of forest into carbon emitters. What does this mean for planting trees to combat climate change? Is planting trees even worth it now?

Trees as "giants" of the plant world belong to the flora in standard categorization, whereas animals belong to the fauna. A tree is categorised as a species by the structure of its roots, trunk and crown. But what exactly distinguishes flora from fauna? The latest research results show that many boundaries become blurred, upon closer inspection. For plants, and especially trees, possess their own form of social intelligence: they communicate with each other, they support each other and yes, they even react to touch.

Yes, we always talk about trees! And yet, in truth, it is never just about the individual tree, but about something much larger: the restoration of an entire ecosystem. A healthy ecosystem strengthens and sustains itself through circular processes and symbiotic relationships. So a tree, in a community of other trees, initiates a process that in the long run not only improves soil, water access and air quality, but can decisively shape the living conditions for humans and animals. To create such a cycle, a tree-planting project must take into consideration more than "just" the tree.