90 FOOTBALL FIELDS DEFORESTED WHILE YOU READ THIS POST

Did you know that every year, around 5 million net hectares of forest are lost around the planet? To put that number into perspective, that’s 18 football fields of net deforestation every minute or 90 of them while reading this post. Pause for a moment and picture that.

Something else to think about: according to Statista, over two billion people worldwide made purchases online in 2020, for over US $4.2 trillion. If we consider an average purchase of say, $42 (for argument’s sake) that would be 100 billion transactions per year. Park that for a second.

Before I get to where I’m going with this, I first want to say that planting trees is about so much more than capturing carbon from the atmosphere. It’s about ecosystems, wildlife, clean air and water, soil quality, and more.

But let’s consider the big question on our collective minds: greenhouse gas emissions and climate change.

500 BILLION TREES

A 2019 study published in the journal Science concluded that the Earth could support another 900 million hectares of forests, an increase in tree cover of around 25 percent. That’s equivalent to 500 billion trees, and it would sequester roughly 205 billion metric tons of carbon, reducing atmospheric CO2 also by an estimated 25 percent. That would cancel out about half of all carbon emitted by human activity since 1960, according to the study—one meaningful strategy among many others required in the fight against climate change.

So, going back to those ecommerce transactions, if we planted 1 tree for every online purchase, we could achieve the above numbers within just 5 years! A tenth of those transactions? 50 years. Still remarkable. And remember that we’re leaving out all transactions at retail here, which still account for the vast majority of purchases.

I’m not going to say the above study was perfect, or that it didn’t face any questions or spark a healthy debate on the topic, or that it would be possible for every type of ecommerce order to result in a tree being planted—but let’s not split hairs. The bottom line is that connecting consumption with environmental remediation, in this case planting trees, can be an extremely powerful, self-scaling tool to fight climate change and better our environment.

SMARTER CONSUMPTION

When we developed our vision for Landish, our main objective was, and still is, to make it easy and enjoyable for conscious consumers like you to integrate the world's smartest ingredients into your daily wellness routine. We mean smarter for your health and for the planet. The first part is about maximizing nutrition and functional benefits for minimal resource use. The second part is about acknowledging our footprint and giving back to the environment.

ONE TREE PLANTED

This is why we partnered with One Tree Planted, a non-profit organization dedicated to planting trees around the world on behalf of people and businesses.

One Tree Planted has reforestation projects across North America, Latin America, Asia, Europe, and the Pacific. Since 2014, the organization has successfully doubled the number of trees planted from the previous year. And despite having to drastically change its operations due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it managed to plant 10 million trees in 2020 and is aiming for 15 million in 2021.

LANDISH’S OBJECTIVE

For every order on this website, one tree is planted in the US, helping to offset our collective environmental impact. To ensure that our efforts are preserved for years to come, all of the reforestation projects that we support are located in protected areas that cannot be mined, developed or harvested for lumber.

So far, we’ve planted over 30,000 trees in North America and, with your help, we plan to reach 1 million! 

RESTORING CALIFORNIA’S FORESTS 

Why plant there?

In 2020, orders on this website supported two reforestation projects in California: the Cranston Fire Reforestation project and the Cover Fire Salvage project. 

Trees play an important role in the vitality of California communities, providing clean water and air, recreation, habitat, and beautiful scenery. Low precipitation and record high temperatures during California’s most recent drought dramatically increased tree mortality and wildfires. A decade ago California’s State Forest Service spent about 20% of its budget on fighting fires. Today, that number has risen to 50 percent.

The loss of trees has had a detrimental impact on the surrounding soil, ecosystems, wildlife, and water quality. One Tree Planted’s reforestation projects in California will help to restore the state’s forests, while protecting them from future wildfires, preserving them for generations to come.

CRANSTON FIRE REFORESTATION PROJECT 

The Cranston Fire in 2018 was a human-caused fire that spread to the San Bernardino National Forest in Southern California. The fire destroyed the Conifer tree population on the mountainous watersheds that previously provided shade and protection to the Strawberry Creek-San Jacinto River and Upper South Fork Jacinto River. Left without a healthy watershed, these rivers are now susceptible to high water temperatures and sedimentation, increasing the risk of hazardous events such as land erosion and flash flooding.

Project Scope & Objectives 

The focus of the Cranston Fire Reforestation project is to restore the area’s Conifer tree population by planting approximately 200,000 Jeffery and Coulter Pines. Beyond sequestering carbon from the atmosphere, repopulating the area’s tree population will help to: 

• Rebuild the watersheds that provide protection to the forest’s rivers and streams. 

• Re-establish hiding and thermal cover for deer and other wildlife.

• Maintain the land to ensure that it can be appreciated, accessible, and healthy for years to come.

• Restore the natural beauty along the State Route 74 and 243—two major recreational passages. 

COVE FIRE SALVAGE PROJECT 

In 2017, the Cove wildfire burned down approximately 20,000 acres of the Modoc National Forest in Eastern California. The fire had a significant impact on the surrounding wildlife, including species like the Northern goshawk, black-backed woodpecker, Modoc sucker, and California spotted owl.

Project Scope & Objectives 

The goal of the Cove Fire Salvage Project is to accelerate the development of the habitat by planting approximately 250,000 trees, specifically Ponderosa and Jeffrey pines. The project will prioritize areas that were severely affected by the fire and will help to:

• Restore the natural habitat for surrounding animals, including the fish population found in the forest’s rivers and streams. 

• Improve the health of the forest’s watersheds. 

• Reestablish the area’s pine population.

2021 REFORESTATION PROJECTS

This year, Landish orders will continue to support the reforestation project in California and we hope to also expand our impact to support other in-need projects across the U.S. including in Colorado, Florida, and Oregon. 

Thank you for your continued support in helping to restore California’s forests! We look forward to sharing the impact of these projects with you throughout 2021. To learn more about One Tree Planted’s reforestation efforts, visit their website.