Buy tea, shop consciously and help save the planet this Black Friday
Pukka Herbs, an international producer of organic herbal tea and supplements, is continuing its fight against climate change by donating 100 percent of purchases made on pukkaherbs.com between Black Friday (23rdNovember) to Cyber Monday (26th November) to TreeSisters; helping to plant trees around the world.
Since Pukka Herbs’ inception in 2001, the organic herbal wellbeing company has been committed to creating a business that lives in a regenerative way, so that people, plants and the planet can all benefit.
As the first company to develop recyclable tea envelopes, plastic free teabags, and an early adopter of renewable energy, Pukka - which has a turnover of almost £36 million - also recently worked with energy performance and carbon management business, Carbon Credentials to become the smallest company to have its climate goal – to be carbon zero by 2030 – independently validated by the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi). There are currently only 13 companies in the UK with independently approved science-based targets including Tesco, Marks and Spencer, and Coca Cola European Partners.
CEO Karel Vandamme Karel says: “Our health and that of the planet are intimately linked. In the cases of man-made deforestation, we are destroying the very ecosystems that nature has designed for cleaning up excess carbon dioxide that is warming our world. As highlighted in the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, “unprecedented changes” are required to reduce our carbon impact.”
TreeSisters is a charity that currently plants over two million trees every year globally - across eight varied tropical ecosystems - supporting restoration through reforestation.
According to the World Resource Institute, we’re currently destroying over 14 million trees a day. The last two years showed the highest rates of deforestation on record with three million hectares of rainforest lost last year alone.
From conserving the habitats of the 250 surviving cross river gorillas in Cameroon, to planting and restoring forest corridors in the Atlantic rainforest - home to endangered pumas and monkeys - to employing locals who are victims of debt due to fish stock decline in Madagascar, the impact of TreeSisters’ work supports both the environment and local communities.
Karel added: “The IPCC report was clear, that we now have only a small window of opportunity to stop disastrous changes to the climate. Keeping temperature rises to within 1.5 degrees is, quite literally for many, the only way to survive. This demands serious commitment and bold action from everyone, no matter what size their business. It is no use waiting for governments to take action, businesses have a responsibility to act as a force for good and now.”
The global, Bristol based organisation works with over 5,000 organic growers worldwide and sells its 100% certified organic herbal teas, supplements and lattes in over 40 countries.
Donating sales to causes that the organic herbal tea producer is passionate about is not new territory for Pukka. In 2016, Pukka became one of the first in the UK to join one percent for the Planet, in which one percent of turnover is donated to environmental charities and organisations. In 2017, Pukka donated £425,000 and will donate more than £500,000 in 2018.
TreeSisters is one of Pukka’s one percent for the Planet partners. The donations made on this typically commercial day form one part of a longer term commitment to the charity, which Pukka donates trees to for every job application submitted.
Clare Dubois, Founder of TreeSisters says: “Our vision for partnership is based upon reciprocity, radical generosity and interdependence. In the same way that each tree supports and tends all other trees within its ecosystem, we aim to generate long-term partnerships that strengthen resilience. With Pukka, we are building a vibrant relationship to amplify the movement towards collective ecological restoration, and we are deeply grateful for their commitment and vision.”
