Environmental Charities Still Charitable?

It is a strange fact that for each ton of growing woods, more then a ton of oxygen is released into the atmosphere. A still less famous fact is that this simply happens in growing forests. Forests where increase rates have stagnated payable to age and decomposition really take upward much oxygen than it produces. When taking this into circumstance, the consumption of inexhaustible plantations for our furniture makes really better sense. Every tree we rise in our plantations produces much oxygen than an existing growth-stagnated tree in the woodland. And every moment we reduce one orchard tree down, we supplant it with several original ones to remain the rhythm.

Recently however, with all of the word reports of odd and unique weather phenomena's all around the reality, I could not avert asking myself if there is anything much we can make. Having an already small environmental harm footprint does not intend we are not capable to make much. Don't have me incorrect; I am not totally sure that the new weather changes are not just a normal rhythm of our ground, but what if it is not? The trouble is that when we finally discover away the genuine reason, it might be overly later to make anything about it. So, being a pro-active kind of party, we decided to seem into much ways of helping the surroundings.

I began my search for a recognised worthy charity that I could trust to help us in our quest. We decided that it would be a good idea to get involved with some sort of tree planting schemes for the same reasons we described earlier. So, our first call was the Woodland Trust UK. I called them up explaining that we would like to plant a tree for every customer and dedicate it to them or a person of their choice. On their site they charge £10 for this service for which you also get an attractive card, a window sticker, a certificate bearing your dedication and a map of the area your tree will be planted at. What a good idea I thought! So, you can imagine my surprise and to be frank, disappointment when I was told that as a business, unless I 'donate' to them at least £20,000 worth of dedications (yes £20k!!!!) we would not be able to display their logo as a show of support; we would not be able to mention the fact that we will dedicate a tree for every customer anywhere on the site. If I did not have it in black and white right in front of me, I would not have believed it. An organisation, claiming to be a charity is refusing help from a company such as ours because we are not as rich or powerful as their other corporate partners. They quote the following for the reason why; " 'Unfortunately due to the time and resources we have to put into commercial partnerships we have to set a minimum amount of £20,000 which I understand is too high for Faraway Furniture'" now, forgive me if I am wrong, but what is the difference between me sending them a monthly lump sum from all of our sales compared to each of my customers individually sending them the money? Surely our way is easier for them to manage as they receive the funds in one lump sum, and only have to send the dedications out in one go to one address? Yes, I admit, I wanted to place their logo on our site to encourage more people to buy from us. But what is so wrong with that? Surely the majority of people asked on the street would prefer knowing their hard earned cash is going to an environmentally responsible company such as ours and not to the less ethical retailers that are springing up all over the internet whose only care is to shift boxes regardless of where the wood comes from?

It is plainly obvious to me that the Woodland Trust UK decision is purely a monetary one. I saw no evidence of an investigation into the way the company conducts their business and how it compares with the trust's own ethos and guidelines. It seems that unless you can afford to splash out £20K, you are an unwelcome partner for such charities. Maybe, just maybe, they should ask themselves which company is less likely to be in a position to pay such an amount. Company A which does not care about the damage they cause to the environment and are therefore able to take many shortcuts and less than ethical (but cheaper) business decisions or company B which strives to reduce its carbon emission footprint, whether it is by starting initiatives such as Plant a Tree, using more expensive plantation wood only and implementing a comprehensive recycling campaign throughout the business.

Not allowing this bad experience to deter me, I continued my search. It was then that I found the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP). Without any fuss, I was able to log onto their site, fill out a form and pledge my yearly tree allocation directly on their site. So, during 2007-2008, Faraway Furniture will be responsible for 1000 new trees planted where they are needed most. So, no fancy certificates or stickers for our customers, but I'll just have to learn to live with that.

Shai Aharony is the director of Faraway Furniture. The company specialises in teak Garden Furniture .