This month we focus on TenTree. The fashion brand that plants ten trees for each item sold.
The fashion industry is known to be one of the most pollutant businesses worldwide, even more than international flights and maritime shipping combined. The issue is on every level: unsuitable choice of materials, production, shipment, and a lack of proper disposal. It pollutes the land, air and water.
Here are some interesting sources if you want to dive more into the topic:
The life cycle of a t-shirt - Angel Chang - TED-Ed (video)
The fashion industry emits more carbon than international flights and maritime shipping combined. Here are the biggest ways it impacts the planet. - Business Insider
CLOTHING & POLLUTION - The Conscious Club
The true cost of fashion - The Economist (video)
Planting the seeds of success
Kalen Emsley, a former tree planter, and his friend David Luba decided to combat this issue by creating 'a clothing brand that gives back'. They would later be joined by Derrick Emsley, Kalen's brother who ended up becoming their CEO.
The overwhelming support given to the brand by the community of Regina (Canada) allowed the 3 entrepreneurs to quickly expand and leave their original "headquarters": Emsley's basement.
However, the big turn-over may have been in 2013, when the 3 partners presented their business idea on Dragon Den (see the full video here). In this Canadian reality TV show, entrepreneurs give a pitch to venture capitalists in the hope that they will invest in the projects. Spoiler alert: TenTree did receive some very helpful funding from the show, and the rest is history...
Company in full bloom
Since then, TenTree has done nothing more than expand. Their merchandise used to only include clothes (hoodies, t-shirts, sweatpants, hats, etc). Now it also includes accessories like backpacks, blankets, wallets, mugs and reusable bottles.
The production, materials used and shipping of these products have been calculated and adjusted to minimise water use, CO2 emissions and overall waste. This allowed them to become a certified B corporation, which is given to businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental support, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose.
In total, their products have helped create jobs in partnership with various charities across the globe, they have been able to plant over 30 million trees as of March 2019 in nine countries. Their next goal is to plant about 1 billion trees by 2030.
“By planting ten trees for every item purchased, we prove to the world that sustainability can and should be as easy as putting on a t-shirt.” - Tentree's website
Article by:
Lena Fix
Editor in chief at The ComPost
Pictures by:
TenTrees website
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