Why we partner with Ecologi to increase our climate-positive impact

The beady-eyed Beaglers among you may have noticed that we’ve partnered up with Ecologi to plant trees! As a company, we’re all about maximising our positive impact, so teaming up with Ecologi seemed like a no-brainer. We love companies that give back, so we wanted to do our bit as well. Here’s a bit more about what they do and why we’re excited to be working with them.

Ecologi run various projects around the world to plant trees and conserve biodiversity. Every time someone downloads Beagle Button, we plant a tree with Ecologi! Plus, every time someone makes a more ethical purchase via the button, we plant a tree too. You can see the trees you've planted with The Beagle Button with our handy Ecologi counter. It’s our way of saying thank you for choosing a more responsible way to shop. We know that most humans will end up causing some carbon emissions, so we like to plant trees on behalf of our users to help them reduce their carbon impact!

Trees are superheroes for combatting climate change. They absorb and store CO2 from the atmosphere, create homes for wildlife and protect against flooding. Recent research found that forests absorb twice as much carbon as they emit, making them “carbon sinks”. The bad news is that we’ve lost around 420 million hectares of forest land since 1990. That’s a big

blow for the fight against climate change – and it’s what makes the work that Ecologi does so important.

However, we know that trees take a while to grow, so we also need to be doing everything we can to cut carbon emissions now – not just carry on as normal and leave loads of carbon for the trees to clear up. That’s why tree planting with Ecologi is just one part of our sustainability strategy and Beagle – scroll down to find out what else we do!

We knew we wanted to plant trees, but we also knew that some tree-planting schemes are better than others. Planting new trees needs to take into account local biodiversity – planting the right trees for the local environment and protecting the existing wildlife. It’s also important that tree

planting schemes respect and work with indigenous communities.

We picked Ecologi because it ticks these boxes. All their projects are externally certified by Gold Standard or Verified Carbon Standard. Plus, all the decisions on which projects to fund are guided by a dedicated climate committee (made up of experts from a range of climate organisations and

projects) and follow the Project Drawdown framework. Finally, we love Ecologi’s transparency – their impact purchases are all available to view on their Public Ledger, and you can read more about them here.

Here are just a few of Ecologi’s fantastic projects that we’re supporting.

This project aims to restore mangrove forests in Madagascar which have sadly been destroyed in recent years. Mangrove forests are carbon sinks – absorbing carbon from the atmosphere to help prevent global warming. They also provide habitats for local wildlife. Ecologi work with Eden Reforestation Projects to hire local people to grow and plant the mangroves, with positive effects for both wildlife and the local economy. We’ve funded 1,000 trees at this project so far!

The Mau Forest in Kenya has experienced deforestation due to farming and charcoal production over the last few decades. This has damaged the land and the water systems, affecting local wildlife

and communities. Ecologi has once again partnered with Eden Reforestation Projects on a 7-year project employing locals to grow and plant trees, providing consistent income that will benefit the local community.

In the coastal Quelimane District of Mozambique, many trees have been felled for timber, which has resulted in flooding and more damage to wildlife and homes. Ecologi are planting mangroves here too, to absorb carbon and protect the coastal area from flooding and storms. We’re proud to say that so far we’ve planted 3645 trees through Ecologi and the Eden Reforestation

project. And that number’s going up every day!

As we said, offsetting is only one part of the sustainability puzzle. It’s also super important to lower emissions in the first place (meaning less to offset!).

Here’s what we do as a business to lower our

carbon footprint as much as possible:

• As a remote business, our team all works from home (so no commuting)

• We use renewable energy in our homes where we can

• We choose vegan restaurants for our work socials ( Mildreds and Tofu Vegan are our faves!)

• We don’t have any company cars

• We buy refurbished tech

• We keep printed materials to a minimum to save even more trees

• As a company we make a proper effort to consume less and waste less overall

Of course, some of the biggest impacts we can make are through our lifestyle. The Beagle team all strive to live in a way that’s as planet friendly as possible. It’s our jam!

At the end of the day, the climate crisis is a big ol’ beast, and there’s no one way to solve it. It’s all about lots of us doing what we can. We love to hear about people doing their bit, even if it’s just having a reusable coffee cup or doing meat free Mondays. Whatever effort you’re making – you’re awesome.

And together we’re even stronger – that's why we believe in the power of collective action. Share

the special link below, and if someone you know signs up, we'll plant 3 trees in your forest as a thank you.

Let’s plant trees!