Repeal It - Plant A Tree & Build A Bog

Footprints. Sometimes they are a lovely impression of human presence – like steps along the sand of a beach. Sometimes they irritate us - like when the kids walk through the house with mucky shoes (agh! How many times have they been telt!). But do we ever think of them as the causers of serious harm? That’s where carbon footprints come in.

When we think of these, we usually associate them with road vehicles, air miles or household recycling. But are we as quick to associate them with clothing? The answer should be yes.

Globalisation and the complicated supply chains of fast-fashion typically mean that garments have travelled half-way around the world before they reach you – and this is before we consider returns! This is a lot of carbon being released into the atmosphere, particularly as the methods of transport include heavy burning of fossil fuels.

Since day 1 of Prickly Thistle’s life, the carbon footprint of our products via delivery has been a big factor for consideration. We take pride in our long-term use of DHL’s ‘Go Green’ services which offset carbon emissions, alongside the fact that our products are made from start to finish in our wee mill, and our suppliers being almost entirely local.

Recently we discovered an incredible platform that is sharing our concerns and making huge efforts to alleviate the problem…

This leads us to our Repeal It action point number 4 – our presence on the ‘Shop’ App. If you download it and type in Prickly Thistle, we will appear, and you can shop with us here.

This app provides a valuable opportunity to reduce the environmental impact of your deliveries for free, as they calculate the carbon emissions from each purchase and translate this into tree planting in collaboration with WeForest; an international non-profit organization committed to restoring the planet’s forests.

‘Shop’ cleverly calculates the amount of carbon dioxide that will be emitted through your order’s delivery – considering transportation method, package weight and delivery distance. They then translate this into trees to be planted, which will capture the same amount from the air.  You can read more about the app here, with all the details on their carbon offset commitment.

Listen, we absolutely love trees. But if you think back our diary post a few weeks ago, you’ll remember we are BIG FANS of peatbogs. The gigantic blanket of peat just north of us in the Highlands called ‘The Flow Country’ actually absorbs 3 times more carbon than the rest of the woodlands located in the United Kingdom as a whole! Thus, carbon sinks peatlands are actually more effective than trees… so we want to help spread the word about this!

That is why we are currently endeavouring with ‘Shop’ to try and support bogs as well as tree-planting through their app. Together we can #buildthebog – watch this space!

Love Clare and the team

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