ESG
“ What has also become more apparent over the past few years , is the dangers of greenwashing ”, says Kroll .
“ Many companies say they plant trees or they offset their carbon emissions and that ’ s why you should trust and use them . But tree planting can be extremely harmful if it ’ s not done correctly :
• Companies may be planting monocultures instead of mixed forests which can cause ecological dead zones
• They may plant non-native species which can become invasive and end up destroying biodiversity
• If you don ’ t have the buy-in and support from a local community perspective , the trees won ’ t survive at all
“ Attitudes to the climate crisis have changed over the past 11 years ”, says Kroll . “ That ’ s where a solution like Ecosia comes in – by making a small difference to your daily internet habits , you can fight the climate crisis , as well as empower communities around the world .”
Ecosia carefully chooses which areas to target for tree planting and openly engages with local communities in the long-term impact of the trees . But Kroll is aware that not all companies are concerned about the future of their projects and just want to show customers that they have achieved something .
“ We need to ensure we aren ’ t taking what big corporations say at face value and actually analyse their sustainability measures and hold them to account ,” says Kroll . “ At Ecosia , we publish monthly financial reports for everyone to see and analyse the money we make and how many trees we are financing . You can also dig deeper into the projects we support to ensure that they are sustainable and truly making a difference .”
Recently , Ecosia launched its first-ever fashion campaign , TEES4TREES , with a t-shirt collection created with eight global visual artists , including Marcello Velho , Liv Lee , Grace Owen and Hola Lou . But this is no foray into fast fashion .
“ The t-shirts are printed by TeeMill ,” explains Kroll . “ These are created using 100 % certified organic cotton , in factories that have socially acceptable practices and that run on renewable energy . Once an Ecosia Tee is worn out , it can even be sent back to Teemill to be recycled into a new
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