During March 2012, Waitrose and the Woodland Trust are celebrating the first year anniversary of a partnership which has delivered fantastic benefits both for online customers and the environment alike!
Working with the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity, Waitrose is the first major retailer to link the planting of trees with its home delivery service as a means of reducing its carbon footprint and helping to protect the environment.
Since joining the Woodland Carbon scheme a year ago, Waitrose has enabled 35,000 trees to be planted – removing 4,991 tonnes of carbon from the environment. Every waitrose.com delivery helps plant new trees to absorb carbon, so in addition to enjoying an industry-leading deal of year-round free deliveries for all orders over £50, online customers are helping to create new woodland at no additional cost to themselves.
So, how does this work?
Trees and woodland provide immeasurable benefits for people, wildlife and the planet, such as providing shelter, shade and cooling; acting as a natural habitat for native insects, birds and animals; and helping to limit flood damage and drought. And, in terms of health benefits and recreation, what could be more relaxing and stress-busting than a peaceful walk in the tranquillity of a lush woodland?
A less known, though vital, benefit of trees is the role they play in combating the ever-growing threat of climate change. And, it is here that Waitrose and the Woodland Trust have joined forces to deliver greater green benefits.
Waitrose is one of the first companies to have signed up to Trust’s Woodland Carbon project – a carbon removal scheme which uses trees to literally ‘lock-up’ and capture CO2 emissions from the environment. As trees grow they absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and, once built into its structure, the carbon stays locked away and is only ever released if the tree is burned or decays.
Waitrose has been using Woodland Carbon for the past year to remove the carbon emissions generated by its delivery vans fulfilling online orders across the breadth of Britain. As part of its sustainability commitments, the company is creating new native woodland here in the UK to ‘remove’ the carbon it generates from road transport usage – and the best part of this environmental initiative is that none of it costs the Waitrose customer a penny!
The Woodland Trust is using funds donated from Waitrose to create woodland at Warcop in Cumbria, a site owned by the MOD’s Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) and used as a military training ground for soldiers. In an area of outstanding natural beauty, Cumbria is one of the least wooded regions of the UK and is a beacon for native UK wildlife. Through its Woodland Carbon initiative, the Woodland Trust will eventually create 160 hectares of woodland at Warcop – doubling the existing amount of woodland on the estate and locking up 110,000 tonnes of CO2.