Just 2 days after the official launch of The Beauty Shortlist’s first ever stand-alone ECO AWARDS this week – which include special awards across multiple sectors including forestry management, plastic and pollution solutions and ocean conservation – we heard this amazing news from Weleda.
And it’s big.
2021 is looking better already…
Here are the details and Happy 100th Year, Weleda – in 2021!
The Power of TREE
Weleda pledges to plant a million trees
In 2021 Weleda turns 100 and what better way to celebrate this remarkable milestone than to plant a Weleda forest! The company has announced plans for a long-term collaboration with the UK charity TreeSisters with the aim of planting one million trees to combat climate change and kick off Weleda’s centenary celebrations in a way that also looks to the future.
Tree planting is one of the most symbolic of actions – one we often choose to mark a special occasion, to remember a loved one, to commemorate the past, or look to the future by putting down roots and future growth.
The Weleda vision is to plant a magnificent forest of trees. Not a single location but a forest of a million trees planted around the world where trees are needed most urgently – to reclaim endangered rainforest, prevent flooding or soil erosion, protect natural habitats, support local communities in some of the poorest countries in the world, and empower women in the workplace.
The charity funds tropical reforestation projects globally with a focus on initiatives either run by women or supporting women around the world.
Trees are invaluable to Weleda wellbeing products: a source of precious ingredients – from birch leaf extract, leaf oil from silver fir needles, willow bark and horse chestnut bark extracts, myrrh resin extract, apricot and almond seed oil from organic orchards, lemon peel oil from Mediterranean citrus groves, nut oil from argan forests, the buttery goodness extracted from the nut of the Shea tree or coconut palm, to fruit from sloe berries or blossom extract from blackthorn trees.
Not forgetting the vital part that the forests play as homes for the tree hives in Ethiopia where Weleda sources its organic beeswax.
Or the shelter and shade created by the myriad of trees and hedgerows in Weleda’s biodynamic herb gardens that provide refuge for pollinators and actively encourage a vibrant biodiversity at Weleda’s growing sites.
A DIFFERENT KIND OF CHRISTMAS TREE
This year in particular many of us will be looking for gifts that are ethically sourced, sustainable, with minimal packaging or waste, and ideally gifts that give back. We all want to make Christmas a more meaningful and less wasteful celebration.
So Weleda has partnered with TreeSisters and every Christmas gift purchase will help fund the planting of tropical trees, sequestering carbon and directly replenishing the world’s forests.
The 2020 collection really strikes a chord with 10 stylishly simple and affordable gifts – to suit a range of budgets – that care for both people and planet. The sustainably packaged gifts are printed on board made from largely post-consumer recycled material mixed with FSC certified board, using solvent free vegetable inks, to minimise carbon impact. For each gift purchased you will be planting a tree with TreeSisters.
CARBON OFFSETTING
Weleda will be offsetting deliveries throughout 2021, and inviting retailers to contribute £1 towards their free delivery to support TreeSisters. In return, retailers will be recognised by Weleda in a directory of TreeSisters Supporting Stores on the website for customers looking to shop local.
Online customers can also contribute to the carbon offsetting at weleda.co.uk. Currently p&p is free for consumer orders over £30, but consumers can actively offset their delivery by making a donation.
REFOREST OUR FUTURE
Over the coming months, Weleda will be engaging retailers and consumers with the idea of supporting the Weleda Forest project, for example with special ‘Buy One Get One Tree’ offers that will help plant trees as a way of giving back.
We rarely discount our range, because when beauty brands regularly discount there is usually someone along the supply chain who is paying in the end, whether that is hard-working retailers, producers or long-term farming partners. Charging a stable price allows us to add value in other ways: nurturing fair trade projects around the world, or supporting other inspirational initiatives such as TreeSisters.
Consumers can also join in by making a donation to TreeSisters at the online store at weleda.co.uk, perhaps as an additional gift for friends and family, not just for Christmas but for birthdays, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, weddings, baby showers, anniversaries, graduation gifts and other special occasions.
Weleda’s new Christmas gifts have already ensured 47,255 trees will be planted.
Weleda will be engaging followers in a colourful social media campaign throughout the centenary year, raising awareness about Weleda’s collaboration with TreeSisters, telling customers about the important part that trees play at Weleda, explaining how funding the planting of trees is a way to invest in ourselves, and how making a small 50p donation will ultimately reforest our future.
#reforestourfuture #youarenature #healthymehealthytree
ABOUT TREESISTERS – WOMEN SEEDING CHANGE
“We exist to rebuild our relationship between people and nature. Our uniqueness as an environmental organisation is that we are combination of women’s work and empowerment and consciousness shift and measurable ecological restoration.
“When you give to TreeSisters you are growing forest corridors between the last remaining fragments of the Brazilian Atlantic rainforest, restoring vital territories for some of our most endangered species. You are growing buffer zone community forests in Nepal to help protect the last 7% of what was once verdant Jhapa canopy forest, and restoring ancient cloud forest in one of the most biodiverse regions in Northeast India, while restoring soil fertility through agroforestry in the drought plagued South.
“In Madagascar you are helping men and women out of indentured slavery as they become foresters, restoring both the Mangrove forest that protects their coasts and rehabilitates fish stocks, and the inland forests that house some of the most endangered species of indigenous Lima. In Africa you are restoring rivers, streams and groundwater by reforesting the slopes of Mount Kenya that are so critical for agriculture. And you are growing a protective buffer of forest around the last 250 Cross River gorillas in Cameroon.
“Climate change is not a spectator sport – it’s time for all of us to get off the bench and start playing this game, to make a difference.”
Claire Dubois, Founder, Tree Sisters
https://treesisters.org/grow-your-own-forest
