Blog

blog_corporate_gifting_header_01

Blog_Corporate_Gifting_Header_01

Now more than ever, are consumers and businesses demanding sustainable options for goods and services. This has led to a gap in the market for sustainable gifting. More specifically, for sustainable corporate gifting, which proves to be a powerful tool in <a href="https://www.happiworkplaces.in/the-giving-tree-a-case-study-on-eco-friendly-corporate-gifting/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">marketing communications</a>. Since corporate gifting occurs on a much larger scale than personal gifting, businesses are taking the necessary steps to ensure that this reward scheme doesn’t negatively impact their carbon footprint. Individuals are also actively seeking ways in which they can <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-important-choose-ecofriendly-corporate-gifts-chatzimichail/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">live a more sustainable lifestyle</a>, by gravitating towards options that allow them to help reverse climate change.  
Concerns around corporate gifting can vary from whether the product itself is eco-friendly or whether the company is contributing towards the restoration of our planet. Therefore, choosing a gift that not only keeps the climate in mind but is focused on tackling the current climate crisis, will enable you to be certain that your gift hits the brief. 
To respond to this increase in demand, Ecologi has created tree-planting gifts to give customers and employees an opportunity to come together and participate in collective action&#8230;by gifting trees of course!

blog_corporate_gifting_banner_01

Blog_Corporate_Gifting_Banner_01

We’ve seen success with companies such as Lloyds Bank and Your Coop Broadband, who have used tree-planting gifts as part of campaigns aimed at rewarding staff, as well as for customer acquisition and retention.
<h3>Your Co-op Broadband</h3>
As part of an acquisition campaign, <a href="https://broadband.yourcoop.coop/broadband/ecologi/">Your Co-op Broadband</a> ran a refer a friend campaign which offered new customers a mini woodland of 100 trees to anybody who signed up (I know I would). They also gave a friend of theirs, who referred them, an additional 100 trees (also known as a spinney) to add to their own forest profiles. During their pilot phase, 1/3 of referrals resulted in a successful transaction, and gift cards for over 6,000 trees have been issued so far.
When asked about their gifting experience, Your Co-op Broadband responded by saying that “Word of mouth recommendations have always played a big role in our customer acquisition strategy, but it’s been great working with Ecologi to experiment an alternative to the more traditional ‘self-interest’ bill credit or shopping voucher type incentives. Our customers have also responded really positively, and we’ll definitely be taking this forward.” 
<h3>Lloyds Bank</h3>

blog_corporate_gifting_subbanner_01

Blog_Corporate_Gifting_SubBanner_01

Lloyds Bank had an end of year function in 2021 where they wished to give back to their staff but at the same time encourage them to think differently about climate change. At their end of year event, they gifted a whopping 500 trees (also referred to as a woodland) to each staff member. This gift was then printed on a bookmark and hidden as a surprise in Bill Gates’s ‘How to Avoid a Climate Disaster’ book. 
According to Lloyds, their gifting experience has been &#8220;a great feature which has given our colleagues an opportunity to take the initiative to offset their carbon footprint.&#8221;

blog_corporate_gifting_banner_02

Blog_Corporate_Gifting_Banner_02

Since 1990, <a href="https://www.fao.org/3/ca8642en/CA8642EN.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">1 billion acres of the world&#8217;s forest</a> has been destroyed and we are said to be the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/dec/03/we-are-last-generation-that-can-stop-climate-change-un-summit" target="_blank" rel="noopener">last generation</a> that can help restore the planet. As a result, Ecologi has set themselves a massive goal to reduce half of the world’s emissions by 2040. 
Due to this, Ecologi wishes to engage as many businesses into actively taking part in climate action. Tree-planting gifts are at the heart of exactly that. It offers you an opportunity to introduce climate action to a large group of individuals, in a positive light. 
We know climate change can have negative connotations due to its portrayal in the media. However, presenting it in the form of a gift or reward instantly forms a positive association that focuses more on collective action than what would be referred to as climate anxiety. We’ve seen many people who want to get involved, just don’t know where to start. Tackling the climate crisis alone can feel rather daunting, which is why we focus largely on collective action.

blog_corporate_gifting_banner_03

Blog_Corporate_Gifting_Banner_03

Tree-planting gifts are affordable, zero waste and climate positive. Each gift includes a printable gift certificate with details on how you can redeem the trees. Recipients can watch the trees grow on their Ecologi profile, where they can continue to expand their own forest. 
<a href="https://ecologi.com/articles/blog/gamification-the-key-to-sustainability-engagement-and-behaviour-change" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gamification</a> ​entails the use of gaming elements to make tree-planting a real-life experience, suddenly it becomes much more than just a click of a button. Not only can recipients see who gifted them the trees, but also the species, age and location of that particular tree. This provides an immersive experience, one that connects recipients to their tree-planting journey. This is why gifting trees can be the perfect option for rewarding employees, gaining new customers or retaining existing ones as it provides them with personalised gifts, just for them. 
Check out our <a href="https://ecologi.com/projects/mangrove-planting-in-madagascar" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mangrove tree-planting in Madagascar</a>, <a href="https://ecologi.com/projects/forest-restoration-in-kenya" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Afromontane tree-planting in Kenya</a> or agroforestry in <a href="https://trees.org/ourwork" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Eastern Uganda</a>.

blog_corporate_gifting_banner_04

Blog_Corporate_Gifting_Banner_04

Trees provide us with an abundant amount of benefits. Therefore, planting trees is a necessary step towards restoring the planet. When you gift trees as part of a marketing campaign or as a means to reward your hard working employees, you are essentially creating a chain reaction of positive impact. 
Our amazing community at Ecologi has already achieved some incredible results through collective action like planting as many trees as there are in Central Park each day &#8211; that’s an incredible 23,000 trees we’re talking about! This is why we encourage businesses to get involved with tree-planting gifts, as it&#8217;s an exciting way to spread some positivity and awareness for climate change.
<h3>Real-life examples</h3>
Here are some of the positive impacts our tree-planting projects are having on individuals, communities &amp; local wildlife:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Our tree-planting project in Irregele Milato, Mozambique provides erosion control, helps the soil to retain its nutrients, improves the quality of water and creates employment for local planters and forest guards.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Our site in Changalane will provide income to 30 full-time planters from the local village to plant and grow the seedlings</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Sites in Kenya aim to plant trees that will act as food sources, such as avocado, lemon and papaya trees for the <a href="https://www.edenprojects.org/case-studies/kenya" target="_blank" rel="noopener">large proportion living under the poverty line.</a></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Our UK tree-planting partner, the Future Forest Company is able to use Biochar and enhanced weathering to remove ten times the amount of carbon from the atmosphere per hectare of land.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">A 5-year project with One Tree Planted will help compensate for the <a href="https://ecologi.com/projects/wildlife-corridors-koalas-australia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Australian bushfires </a>that led to the loss of vegetation and wildlife, by planting 1 million trees</li>
</ul>

blog_corporate_gifting_subbanner_02

Blog_Corporate_Gifting_SubBanner_02

Gift the planet a better future <a href="https://ecologi.com/gifting" target="_blank" rel="noopener">with Ecologi.</a>

blog_goodnews_header-1

Blog_GoodNews_Header (1)

Hopescrolling: The good news timeline

It’s not all bad. While there’s a lot of negative news about the climate, let’s not forget the good stuff. Find climate wins, reasons to be hopeful and plenty of positivity in our good news timeline.

The good news timeline

blog_impactreport_header-2

Blog_ImpactReport_Header

We know that funding high-quality carbon credits provides vital funding to impactful projects <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/2023/03/20/press-release-ar6-synthesis-report/">which prevent and avoid emissions</a>.
However, it’s vital to look at the bigger picture: how carbon credits are being used is critical in taking meaningful climate action for our planet.
Simply using carbon credits to offset our business-as-usual emissions (often referred to as becoming ‘carbon neutral’) without taking steps to reduce those emissions directly <a href="https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/40875/EGR2022_KR.pdf?sequence=3">will not solve climate change</a>. In addition, there’s increasing pressure on businesses following recent crackdowns on green claims, such as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/may/15/uk-advertising-watchdog-to-crack-down-on-carbon-offsetting-claims-aoe">claiming ‘carbon neutrality’ through offsetting alone</a>. So, across our industry, we need to rethink carbon offsetting completely, from the ground up.
Let’s unpack this.

Offsetting to compensate for business-as-usual emissions is OUT

Science is clear that minimising global warming requires substantial emissions reductions globally. The IPCC has called for <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/chapter/spm/">50% reductions in emissions by 2030</a>, and global net-zero emissions by 2050, if we are to limit the global temperature increase to below 2°C, and as close as possible to 1.5°C. Every year that we continue to increase emissions, the steeper the curve needs to be for the world to decarbonise in time, 
Traditional carbon offsetting involves paying for carbon credits, each representing one tonne of emissions reduced or avoided by a project (like a solar farm). To offset, you would produce one tonne of greenhouse gas emissions through your business activities, and then offset that tonne by buying a carbon credit. 
However, traditional offsetting also gives free licence to businesses to continue generating emissions, or even increase them! Provided that they are also paying to offset them. You can see this in the visual below.
<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-7760" src="https://cms-assets.offset.earth/app/uploads/20230516164950/COP27-Net-Zero-Pathway-Workshop.png" alt="" width="960" height="540" srcset="https://cms-assets.offset.earth/app/uploads/20230516164950/COP27-Net-Zero-Pathway-Workshop.png 960w, https://cms-assets.offset.earth/app/uploads/20230516164950/COP27-Net-Zero-Pathway-Workshop-300x169.png 300w, https://cms-assets.offset.earth/app/uploads/20230516164950/COP27-Net-Zero-Pathway-Workshop-768x432.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px" />
Even when businesses fund high-quality projects and offset their emissions in full, those direct emissions are still taking place. The benefits of avoided emissions are effectively cancelled-out if the projects funded are only being used to offset your business’s continued emissions. The same is true, even if you are doing your offsetting with carbon removal credits &#8211; because the climate impacts of emitting and then removing greenhouse gases are not the same as simply not emitting them.
This is unsustainable. We need to reconsider completely the way we think about offsetting.

Reducing emissions whilst committing to fund high-quality climate‌ action is IN

For businesses to align their operations with <a href="https://www.iema.net/articles/ghg-management-hierarchy-updated-for-net-zero.">the science of climate change</a>, making direct emissions reductions <a href="https://ecologi.com/articles/blog/charting-the-path-to-net-zero-for-businesses">across your supply chain is paramount</a>. That’s a separate process, which offsetting doesn’t contribute toward.
Funding impactful projects through carbon credits still has a huge role to play. The SBTi (Science Based Target initiative) deems <a href="https://sciencebasedtargets.org/blog/net-zero-urgent-beyond-value-chain-mitigation-is-essential">funding carbon credits as an &#8220;essential&#8221; step</a> in the journey towards global net-zero. 
Supporting these high-quality carbon avoidance projects (that’s the same kinds of projects which are traditionally used for offsetting) is a perfect entry point for businesses to start their climate journey &#8211; whilst these businesses gather their plans to reduce their emissions directly.

Reducing your business emissions is a marathon, not a sprint

One of the SBTi’s core requirements for a business to achieve net-zero is to achieve a <a href="https://sciencebasedtargets.org/net-zero">minimum 90% reduction in emissions in most sectors</a>. This emissions-reduction journey will not be easy, since that’s a BIG task!

the-way-we-think-about-carbon-offsetting_illos_1600x744px_v3

The way we think about Carbon Offsetting_Illos_1600x744px_V3

Imagine having to reduce your financial budget by 90% &#8211; it would require a lot of planning, researching, and implementation, over a long period.

ecologi_blog_pull-quotes-01

Ecologi_Blog_Pull quotes-01

Near-term targets are going to be crucial to break down those larger long-term goals. SBTi <a href="https://sciencebasedtargets.org/reports/sbti-progress-report-2021">research in 2021 showed that</a> if your business had set its science-based targets that year, you would need to make emissions reductions of just 4.2% per year &#8211; a much more understandable and manageable target for most businesses.
Remember as well that, even if simply offsetting your business emissions was your goal, then the higher your emissions are, the more it will cost to your business to offset them. This means that whilst there’s an enormous challenge in reducing emissions over a sustained period, it will be much better in the long run, both for your business and for the planet.

ecologi_blog_pull-quotes-02

Ecologi_Blog_Pull quotes-02

This is a long-term commitment which all businesses need to undertake. That’s why funding high-quality climate action is crucial at the same time. You can give back to our planet throughout the process &#8211; and by doing so, you can have a real, measurable impact <a href="https://sdgs.un.org/goals">on people, communities and biodiversity</a>.

High-quality climate action that ‘goes beyond’

This funding of high-quality climate action outside of a business’s operations is referred to by the SBTi as ‘<a href="https://sciencebasedtargets.org/blog/going-above-and-beyond-to-contribute-to-societal-net-zero">beyond value chain mitigation</a>’ or ‘BVCM’. They highlight this as a critical contribution to reaching societal net-zero because it has a positive climate impact outside of your business’s direct sphere of influence. Your company can leverage its BVCM strategy to generate positive global change for our planet.
The great thing about BVCM is that it allows your business to select project types and locations that matter to you: you can build your own mix of projects to support.

ecologi_blog_pull-quotes-03

Ecologi_Blog_Pull quotes-03

Don’t be put off by the scientific terminology. Simply, it means continuously funding climate action via high-quality carbon avoidance credits (and other types of impactful climate projects) whilst reducing your business emissions on your journey to net-zero.

artboard-54x

Artboard 5@4x

At Ecologi, we select the carbon avoidance projects we support according to our<a href="https://ecologi.com/articles/updates/how-ecologi-finds-and-funds-the-most-impactful-climate-solutions"> climate impact regionalisation strategy</a>, which focuses on directing funding towards locations and projects with the greatest potential impact.
This approach allows our in-house team to identify which, out of the ~200 quotes for carbon credits we review every month, are the most impactful.
The projects we support &#8211; which you can fund through <a href="https://ecologi.com/impact-shop">our Impact Shop</a> or through <a href="https://ecologi.com/business/integrations">our automations and integrations</a> &#8211; are also independently scrutinised by organisations like our friends at <a href="https://www.sylvera.com/">Sylvera</a>.

ecologi_blog_pull-quotes-04

Ecologi_Blog_Pull quotes-04

Reframing carbon offsetting in a way that makes a real difference

Don’t let your business fall into the trap of thinking that buying carbon credits gets you off the hook by compensating for emissions which you haven’t attempted to reduce. That way of thinking is all wrong.
<a href="https://sciencebasedtargets.org/net-zero">The net-zero pathway</a> allows you to fund carbon removal credits to ‘offset’ your unavoidable emissions. However, you need to reduce your emissions as much as possible first, and only use removals for up to a maximum 10% of your initial emissions, and it has to be carbon removal, which is very expensive!
Think about your BVCM as funding climate action, full stop. It’s not about compensating to let your business keep producing emissions. It’s just one cost of running a responsible business, whilst you work to reduce your emissions directly. 
Don’t think about it in the context of letting your business carry on emitting as it was before &#8211; because that won’t contribute toward solving the climate crisis.

How to take the first step on your climate journey

Every business is different, and that means that although reducing emissions is vital, funding climate action might be the most suitable entry point for you, on your climate journey.
Through Ecologi, you can do this and more:

illustrative-steps_v2

Illustrative steps_V2

If you’re still not sure where to start, <a href="https://ecologi.com/business/overview#get-in-touch">reach out to our friendly team of experts</a> who will be more than happy to find the right climate solution for your business and for our planet.

ecologi_blog_pull-quotes-05

Ecologi_Blog_Pull quotes-05

blog_ourstory_refresh_header

Blog_OurStory_Refresh_Header

Ecologi - Our story

How Ecologi grew from a climate action subscription to the ultimate climate companion for businesses. Read our story here!

<h2>The thought that turned to action</h2>
The story of Ecologi started one morning in 2019, when our founder <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/elliotcoad/">Elliot</a> picked up his morning coffee and wondered what would happen if he instead spent that money on addressing the climate crisis? 
As a keen ‘armchair environmentalist’ and self-confessed nerd, his research took him down a few rabbit holes and geek out sessions, as he explored the potential impact of just 10% of the world redirecting their loose change from cappuccino to climate action. 
He soon realised that there are ample climate solutions already available to address climate change and restore nature, and the world’s pocket change is more than enough to fund them. The idea just needed to galvanise support and turn into collective action. 
Ecologi began as a family and friend business. Elliot is experienced in product and development, and his wife <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucyjackk/">Lucy</a> is a website designer who is a deft hand with illustration and branding. They were joined by their friend <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/remotealex/">Alex</a>, a talented developer and entrepreneur who had just finished building a subscription product of his own.
Ecologi was born!

founders02

<h2>Ecologi 1.0</h2>
Ecologi started as a subscription service for individuals to take climate action and was founded as a for-profit social enterprise to scale this idea rapidly. In a world of Netflix, Spotify, Headspace and countless other affordable subscriptions, we figured that there must surely be room in the market for something that could literally change the world? 
We decided on the name ‘Ecologi’ in awareness of two great threats to humanity; global warming, and biodiversity loss. These issues are interconnected, and we cannot solve one without the other. Therefore, the projects that we offer give our customers the opportunity to support both climate action and nature restoration in conjunction.
With an ethos based on transparency and putting our planet ahead of profit, we’ve grown a passionate community of over 18,000 businesses and 40,000 members in under five years. Through the support of our community, we’ve funded the planting of over 60 million trees, prevented over 2.5 million tonnes of CO2e from entering our atmosphere through certified carbon avoidance projects and achieved B Corp Certification. 
Our <a href="https://lookerstudio.google.com/reporting/adfb141d-4153-4c22-b6b4-976f7f3930b2/page/p_9zis9oxt3c">Public Impact Ledger</a> lifts the lid on what goes on behind the scenes here at Ecologi and delves into the evidence and detail of all things climate impact. Check out our <a href="https://ecologi.com/transparency">Transparency page</a> for evidence of our impact and finance, and meet the teams driving us forward.

<h2>The next chapter </h2>
We’ve had a great start, but there is still a lot of work to be done, and we can’t do it alone. So we’ve reset and refocused, with a bold new mission to inspire and empower businesses to accelerate global action on climate and nature. 
SMEs make up 99% of the UK business population and contribute half of all business-driven emissions in the UK. But according to a 2021 survey by the British Business Bank, only 6% are likely to have measured their carbon footprint in the last five years. <a href="https://ecologi.com/articles/blog/climate-commitments-survey">Our own research</a> also found that over four in 10 (41%) of SMEs would like their business to have a net-zero strategy, but feel confused about how to get started.
In the years ahead, the team at Ecologi will champion SMEs as green revolutionaries, empowering them on their journey to reduce emissions and take climate action. There are millions of SMEs in the UK and we believe that with the right support, they can help turn the tide on the climate crisis. 
SMEs are powerful enough to make an impact, agile enough to act fast, and unstoppable when working collectively. Just imagine what would happen if every SME rose up and took action as one? 
<h3>Check out our Climate Commitments Report</h3>
<div class="ecologi-video-full-width"><iframe src="https://cms-assets.offset.earth/app/uploads/20230328090053/Ecologi_BBB_Report_V6.pdf" width="960" height="900" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></div>
 📁 Download the PDF report <a href="https://cms-assets.offset.earth/app/uploads/20230328090053/Ecologi_BBB_Report_V6.pdf">here</a>

<h2>Supporting the revolution</h2>
We’ve recently concentrated our efforts on being the ultimate climate companion for SMEs, no matter what stage of the journey to net-zero they&#8217;re on. From calculating their carbon footprint, to reducing their emissions, to funding climate projects, to sharing their impact with their community. And we’ve developed a suite of products to support that journey.
<a href="https://ecologi.com/business/zero">Ecologi Zero</a> is our free and easy-to-use carbon footprinting tool for UK-based SMEs. It’s designed to remove the high-cost, technology and skills barriers to carbon footprinting by connecting seamlessly with Xero accounting software to calculate emissions from existing business data, and requiring no expertise or experience. We’re really proud of it and its potential to be a game changer in enabling SMEs to take the first step on their net-zero journey. 
We’ve also launched our all-new <a href="https://ecologi.com/business/impact-shop">Impact Shop</a>. This pay-as-you-go store for climate impact lets businesses make a purchase for our planet with no strings or subscriptions attached. This allows SMEs to support whatever type of projects mean the most to them, and fund as much impact as they like, whenever suits them. From funding tree planting in specific countries to supporting community-based projects, SMEs can choose from a range of high quality climate solutions and know that they are making a positive impact.
Finally, <a href="https://ecologi.com/business/climate-positive-workforce">Climate Positive Workforce®</a> allows SMEs to bring their employees along on the journey of climate action. This product operates like a regular subscription, compensating for the approximate carbon footprint per number of employees in your business country of operation, while also funding the planting of trees through our trusted reforestation partners. In doing so, your organisation will visualise their impact in their virtual forest, learn more about the different carbon avoidance projects they support each month, and share their impact online.
<div class="ecologi-video-full-width"><iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Q2bmJyFDvlc" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></div>

<h2>For our planet </h2>
Our planet. This is what brought us together. It’s why we started Ecologi. It’s the purpose of our community. The reason we take collective action. And when we speak to our community, they often say that they work with us so they can do something positive for our planet. 
As we look ahead to the next chapter of Ecologi, these three small-but-mighty words have become our north star, and the core of our brand. 
Now is the time to act together. Let’s rewrite our future. For our planet. 
<div class="ecologi-video-full-width"><iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tTmQ6IlinkM" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></div>

Corporate gifting: what are tree-planting gifts?

Success stories:

Why tree-planting gifts?

What’s included?

Positive impact of gifting trees:

More posts

Hope-scrolling: The good news timeline

The way we think about carbon offsetting is all wrong

Our story

Start making a difference today

Fund the best climate solutions

About

Take action

Members

Resources

Follow us

© 2023 Ecologi

We send good things