United Nations Billion Tree Planting Programme

Carbon Offset with Tree Planting

PLANT A TREE TODAY

You can now plant a tree today and we can even set up a monthly planting routine where we plant a minimum of 1 tree per month to help offset your annual emissions. In the UK for example, 1 tree per month is enough to offset your entire Carbon Emissions each year according to the Carbon calculator which sources worldwide data from the United Nations Statistics division.

Carbon Calculator

HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT THE TREE PLANTING PROGRAMME

To support the tree planting programme, please select a tree you wish to plant below. If you are buying 10 or more trees for someone's birthday or Christmas present, we will plant 2 extra trees for you and you can request for us to forward you an e-mail or paper certificate in the notes section of the checkout.



Mango-Tree Fruit and Indigenous Tree(s) @

£5.00 (inc VAT)/month
Mango Tree(s) @

£5.00 (inc VAT) each
Apple Tree(s) @

£5.00 (inc VAT) each
Indigenous Tree(s) @

£5.00 (inc VAT) each




WHAT THE SCEPTICS SAY

Whilst sceptics say that Tree Planting does nothing to address human beings consumption and reliance on Fossil Fuels, we do encourage people to first reduce consumption, switch to a green energy suppplied we have taken steps to cut our dependency on Fossil Fuels, we need a means to absorb the remaining emissions just from living. Nasa and the Kyoto Protocol accept that the average tree planted will absorb 1 ton of CO2 on average in its lifetime. Trees are still overlooked as a Carbon Offset solution, but they are the most natural and cost effective means of absorbing CO2. They are in fact the only natural way of absorbing CO2 other than plant life and algae. They also offer a host of other benefits including fruit and retention of water in the soil for communities as well as shelter for animals.

WHAT DO THE UNITED NATIONS WANT YOU TO DO?

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) have launched a 'Billion Tree Campaign' in an effort to soak up escalating CO2 levels around the world. Trees are still known to be the most effective means of absorbing CO2 in the atmosphere; a gas linked by Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change (IPCC) scientists to Global Warming and Climate Change.

The United Nations have therefore called upon each of the 7 Billion people on the planet to plant a minimum of 1 tree. 10 Billion have been planted so far which is a fantastic result, but now they have set the target to 12 Billion and this keeps increasing. The number you should plant really depends upon what the total CO2 emissions are of your country, divided by the population. This computes a 'tons of CO2' figure per person, which then identifies the number of trees that need to be planted by each individual. The Carbon Calculator identifies for example that British citizens need to plant at least 10 trees per year or 19 trees per year if you live in the United States.

WHAT DO ECOSWITCH WANT YOU TO DO?

EcoSwitch are encouraging each individual to firstly switch to green energy if you haven't already done so and we'll plant two trees for free for you to get the ball rolling. All trees planted by EcoSwitch are registered with the United Nations tree planting programme. Once you have switched, if you are interested in planting more, based upon the amount specified in the Carbon Calculator, you can purchase them below and they only cost £5.00 compared to some European prices of up to £15.00 per tree. You get more trees for your money with EcoSwitch and we plant them in the Tropics (Uganda) because trees there are known to absorb 3 times more CO2 compared to Northern Hemispheres. It is important to plant as many trees as possible and get as much return in CO2 absorption.

OUR AFRICAN NURSERY AND TREE PLANTING OPERATION

Our African nursery is overseen by Theresa Komugisha Kabombora who holds an MSc in Seed Technology from Edinburgh University. She is now based in Entebbe, Uganda. She ensures all of the checks and controls are in place on the ground and invites you to visit the nursery and tree planting operation whenever you want. If you are traveling, we invite you to consider exploring eco-friendly lodges or hotels in Africa, many of which are listed on this site.

WHAT TYPES OF TREES DO WE PLANT?

We plant a variety of trees including Mango, Apple or Indigenous Trees (such as the Mvule tree). Indigenous trees are vital to communities and you can learn about the Mvule tree here. Fruit trees are particularly helpful to local communities because they retain water and each tree can produce £75 or $125 of fruit produce per year.

All trees are grown in the nursery between June-December each year, before being planted in the monsoon season between January and March.

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