We plant one tree per Washo Box
Social and environmental responsibility are important to us at Washo. We are certified as a climate-neutral company, which means that we offset all our CO 2emissions. But that's not enough for us: at Washo, we want to make a conscious contribution to the future of the world.
That's why we plant a tree with the non-profit environmental organization Tree-Nation for every pack of Washo sold. So far, we have planted over 15,000 trees – and that in just 4.5 months. Together, the trees offset 1,700 tons of CO 2emissions. Just imagine: to produce this amount of carbon dioxide, you could fly from Zurich to New York and back 850 times.
This is precisely why trees are so valuable for the planet. They play an important role in the fight against climate change. But that's not all: trees are one of the pillars that humans need for their existence in many ways.
Washo is committed to Tree-Nation
Washo works with Tree-Nation to plant trees. When a customer buys a pack of Washo, they receive an email from Tree-Nation. On theirwebsite , customers can check Washo's profile to see what type of tree has been planted and what the surrounding area looks like. It is also possible to leave a comment: When the mangrove was planted for our customer A. R., she wrote: "Thank you very much for the tree. May it grow tall and strong!"
The non-profit organization Tree-Nation was founded in 2006. It all started with a single project in Niger, one of the driest and poorest countries in the world. Tree-Nation has now planted well over 10 million trees, offsetting almost 1.5 billion tons of CO 2 . By way of comparison, Switzerland emitted 36.85 million tons of CO 2 in 2019 . Almost 7,000 companies and over 300,000 citizens have participated since the organization was founded 15 years ago.
How trees benefit us
Mental health and livelihoods
Disconnect and recharge – known as forest bathing, this practice has long been popular in Japan. Trees have been proven to have a positive effect on us. While forests are a place of recreation for us, for many people in developing countries they are their livelihood. They provide food, drinking water, and work equipment.
Water
Water means life; without water, nothing would work. This is especially true for the world's largest cities: around a third of metropolises such as New York depend on protected forest areas for their drinking water. Trees are also extremely important for preventing flooding: when it rains, the water is filtered by the roots of the trees, slowing it down. The water can then be gradually absorbed by the ground.
Air
Estimates say that an area of around 4,000 square meters covered with trees produces the oxygen needed by twelve people for a year. At the same time, trees absorb harmful gases such as carbon dioxide and ozone.
On a hot day, there's no better place to lie down than under a tree. This is because trees release water droplets from their leaves, which evaporate and cool the surrounding area.
Animals
Trees are not only important for humans; they also provide a home and food for wildlife. Only six percent of the world's surface is covered by rainforest, yet more than half of all animal and plant species live there. The loss of a self-contained tropical rainforest would cause 100 species to become extinct every day. It is not only mammals that are at risk; insects, which are so important for pollination, also like to live in trees.
Soil
The 2004 tsunami showed that areas with intact mangroves were significantly less damaged. Trees literally hold the soil together and thus protect it from erosion.
Tree photo created by wirestock -www.freepik.com
