World Well Web: Krystal plants 1 million trees and sets blueprint for future of business

Krystal is setting a blueprint for the future of businesses and the planet, as it announces its millionth tree has been planted way ahead of its 2022 goal. 

Krystal, which was created back in 2002 to provide an honest, reliable and personal alternative to the large faceless hosting corporations, is run on 100% renewable electricity and works with Trees For Life and Ecologi to plant trees and carbon offset all employees. To date, Krystal has countered 448.66T of CO2 entering the atmosphere and has planted 1,032,819 trees. The company was a founding member of the Million Tree Pledge which plants trees across eight countries, and has become the first company to plant 1 million. 

As part of the company’s 19th birthday celebrations, Krystal has announced it will offset the total lifetime carbon emissions for every one of its employees - not only for their time at work and any business travel, but for their personal carbon footprint too. The company is also supporting its staff to make more sustainable choices by financially compensating each team member when they make the switch to any 100% renewable energy provider at home.

Furthermore, Krystal’s partnership with Trees for Life has seen nearly 20,000 trees planted in protected sites in the Scottish Highlands, creating homes for wildlife and forests for the future. Each of these activities fit with Krystal’s goal to make a transparent, honest, and credible impact in tackling climate change. The company is working towards the prized B-Corporation status and aims to introduce additional initiatives to drive sustainability and be a vehicle for positive change. 

Simon Blacker, founder and CEO of Krystal, commented: “I created Krystal to pass on a legacy of positive impact and be a good ancestor. I’m proud that Krystal is one of the few examples of a "regenerative business"; an enterprise that takes out more carbon from the atmosphere than it puts in but there’s so much more to do. Net zero isn’t sufficient any more if we're to wind back the clock. It’s sad that many organisations are either ignoring the climate entirely, or greenwashing, doubly so when they have the means and the profits to make a real change. If Krystal can make an impact, then it’s past-time that large organisations with huge profits do so too. What’s the point of having money but nowhere natural to enjoy?” 

Elliot Coad, CEO and Co-founder at Ecologi, added: “We’re extremely excited to celebrate Krystal as the first brand to achieve 1 million trees planted with Ecologi, taking the prime spot in our Ecologi Business Tree Leaderboard in just 8 months since becoming a Climate Positive Workforce. Their support has also seen over 30 other businesses and individuals join the Ecologi movement, helping us inch forwards towards our goal of removing 50% of global CO2 emissions by 2040 and responsibly plant billions of trees every year.”