As we announced recently, we’ve been named the official volunteer uniforms supplier for the 26th Annual Climate Change Conference, taking place later this year in Glasgow.
And as a commitment to the sustainable legacy of the event, we’re proud to say we’ll also be planting a tree for each of the volunteers we create a uniform for. Around 1,000 to be exact.
It’s part of our partnership with environmental charity, One Tree Planted, who we began working with in 2020 – out of our desire to show our planet as much love as we can.
‘One of the things we were looking at as part of our work with COP26 was how can we really minimise our impact on the environment,’ explains Lion’s Kevin Michel. ‘We had the idea that we’d like to plant a tree for every uniform we make – then someone told us about One Tree Planted.’
It was a match made in heaven.
‘As soon as we read about them, we were impressed. They’re a small not-for-profit organisation based in America and they plant trees all over the world.
‘We also loved the fact they employ local people to plant and nurture the trees, creating employment and giving people jobs who might not have had them.’
We’ve adopted the charity’s ‘one-for-one’ model, whereby one tree will be planted somewhere in the world for every product we sell.
All of us at Lion HQ love the idea that as we create sustainable uniforms for a huge global environmental event, we’ll also be helping to reduce the effects of climate change by planting a new pollutant-absorbing, fresh-air generating, carbon-offsetting tree.
‘What’s great is that the trees being planted work to offset C02 generated by importing goods,’ says Kevin. ‘Every individual tree will offset 2.6 tonnes of carbon by the end of its first year. After five years, that’s an even more significant offset.
‘Trees are so many things,’ adds Kevin. ‘They clean our air. They capture rainwater and prevent floods. They promote biodiversity. They have social and environmental impact – they provide an ongoing legacy.’
We’ll keep you updated on our work with One Tree Planted and COP26 as we continue to grow together.