Rooting For Change

The phrase “mighty oaks from little acorns grow” is fitting when it comes to tackling climate change.

Global warming is a huge and complex issue, but if everyone made small, simple changes, the impact on the planet could be massive.

You may have heard of people planting trees to offset their baby’s carbon footprint, but did you realise just how important trees can be in the fight against global warming?

According to the Woodland Trust, trees are the “ultimate carbon capture and storage machines”, absorbing atmospheric carbon and storing it for centuries in their living tissues and the soil. 

Branching out

Trees aren’t just fun to climb. A young woodland, with mixed native species, can lock up 400 tonnes of carbon per hectare over a period of 100 years.

If we planted more native trees, we could also encourage woodland that is genetically diverse and resilient against pests, diseases and the effects of climate change.

The problem is that, currently, the UK is one of the least wooded countries in Europe. To truly fight climate change, alongside major emissions reductions, we’d need to increase the UK’s woodland cover from 13% to 19%, according to The Independent Committee on Climate Change.

This would amount to 1.5 million hectares of woodland, roughly the size of Yorkshire. Though this sounds a tad ambitious, the Woodland Trust says it would be feasible - if more people were to actively get behind its plans.

Family tree

Answering the call, Pura has partnered with the Woodland Trust and plans to pay for the planting of close to 10,000 trees in the next three years.

Pura is also “dedicating” around 1,800 trees in 2020. This will help to protect older trees and ancient woodlands that are fantastic at capturing carbon but are still being destroyed to make way for development in the UK.

We are offering the first 1,800 Pura subscribers the opportunity to dedicate a tree in their baby’s names. Help us put down some roots!

Photos by: Michael Heffernan/WTML