TRENDSPLANT - OUR FIRST 1% FOR THE PLANET PARTNER
Wild Tomorrow Fund’s first 1% for the Planet business partner is Trendsplant, a premium lifestyle brand founded in Spain, designing clothes and accessories for ‘the modern nomad’. Trendsplant joined 1% for the Planet in 2020, as part of their journey towards sustainability and a lighter environmental footprint. Learn more about our partnership and Trendsplant’s support in our latest blog below.
Wild Tomorrow Fund’s founder, John Steward together with four of our Ukuwela rangers, our Reserve Manager Kevin Jolliffe and team, proudly wearing donated Trendsplant tees!
It was a pair of socks on Instagram with a bright orange elephant logo that lit the way to our new partnership with Trendsplant. “Cool socks!” we remarked to an old friend in Spain, who had proudly posted a picture of his new Trendsplant elephant socks on his Instagram story. This friend on the other side of the world just so happened to be good friends with the founders of Trendsplant. This led to an introduction to the founders, Miguel (“Mike”) Garcia and Luis Guillen last December. Thanks to a fleeting Instagram story featuring an orange elephant on socks, a new and impactful partnership centered around protecting elephants was born.
Trendsplant is a premium lifestyle brand founded in Spain, designing clothes and accessories for ‘the modern nomad’. On their 10th birthday as a company in January 2020, they announced their commitment to sustainability and a lighter environmental footprint, by joining 1% for the Planet and committing to donating at least 1% of their annual global sales to environmental charities. Today, only 3% of philanthropy goes toward environmental giving. 1% for the Planet’s goal is to significantly increase the overall amount of global dollars going to help protect the planet.
As a member of the 1% for the Planet network, Trendsplant were able to nominate Wild Tomorrow Fund to become a non-profit partner in the network. This opened the door for us to receive additional support from other companies in the 1% network. ”We are so thankful to Trendsplant for firstly choosing Wild Tomorrow Fund as a charity to partner with in their elephant protection goals, but secondly, for introducing us to the 1% for the Planet Network, which is a coveted opportunity to receive support from a vast network of environmentally-conscious companies and individuals around the world”, said Wendy Hapgood, Wild Tomorrow Fund’s co-founder in New York City.
Clothes are probably the most common items that people buy in today’s world, and the average number of clothes that an individual buys every year has increased drastically in the recent years. Research by McKinsey found that the number of garments produced annually doubled since 2000 and exceeded 100 billion pieces for the first time in 2014. This unsustainable demand for clothing has a large and damaging environmental impact on our planet. According to the UN, the textile industry produces 20% of the world's wastewater and 10% of global carbon emissions. It also produces an astounding amount of solid waste due to “fast fashion”: Globally each year, around 90 million tons of clothing ends up in landfills.
Trendsplant’s co-founder Mike was deeply inspired by the writing of Patagonia’s founder, Yvon Chouinard, who co-founded the 1% for the Planet movement. After Mike read his books, this planted the seed for Trendsplant to begin the journey towards becoming a more sustainable, environmentally-conscious brand . “I think there is no doubt by now that the human footprint in nature is already considerable” said Trendsplants’ co-founder Mike, “and without becoming an activist, not even climate change deniers can say that we have nothing to do with what is happening. I would say that clothing is the vehicle that will allow us to do our bit to improve our society. Act local, affect global”.
A few examples of the steps Trendsplant have taken so far towards becoming more sustainable include: removing plastic from shipments, using Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified recycled paper for bags used in store, increasing the lines of clothing that use organic cotton, and using yarn made from bamboo and recycled ocean and landfill plastics. “As a company, we knew from the outset that our activity had to be positive for the environment, whether the Mediterranean or the whole planet” said Trendsplant’s CEO, Luis Guillen.
Wild Tomorrow Fund received a first donation from Trendsplant this March, fulfilling their 1% commitment for the second half of 2020 by donating half of their ‘1% planet tax’ to Wild Tomorrow Fund and the other half to local environmental charities in Spain, to help clean up the beaches, rivers and mountains where they grew up. This first donation from Trendsplant funded the purchase of two acres of land at our Ukuwela wildlife reserve in South Africa while also supporting salaries for the ranger team who work daily to patrol and protect wildlife from poaching. This month, Trendsplant also donated t-shirts for the entire team, an in-kind donation which helps to offset our ranger uniform costs.
Wild Tomorrow Fund's Executive Director, John Steward said, "Trendsplant's support is much needed on the ground in South Africa to help us protect, restore and re-wild habitat for elephants and other threatened species. We are proud to partner with Trendsplant and 1% for the Planet, and bring support all the way from Spain and across Europe directly to elephants and other threatened species in southern Africa"
Elephants, and our planet really do need so much more help. Additional assistance is particularly pertinent this year, with news in March that African savannah elephants (Loxodonta africana) have been officially up-listed to “Endangered”, one rung higher on the IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species, meaning they are now one sad step closer to extinction. The number of African forest elephants has fallen by more than 86% over a period of 31 years, while the population of African savanna elephants decreased by at least 60% over the last 50 years, according to the report.
1% for the Planet is a wonderful step forward to securing more support from corporates and individuals around the world, to create a more sustainable world. Thank you to Trendsplant for forging this path forward!