By: Tina Iacono, Business Support/HR

Since early 2021, the team and I at Design Fire Consultants (DFC) have been delighted by the opportunity to positively impact on the climate by contributing to rewilding through Trees for Life. This charity was founded in 1989 and has since worked tirelessly to raise awareness and rewild the Scottish Highlands, a part of the world which has been and will continue to be affected by climate change as the global crisis continues to increase. Their statistics suggest that the wildlife in this area has been reduced to around 2% of original populations. The company agreed to contribute to their revitalisation programme through establishing a DFC grove of trees to support restoration of the Caledonian Forest to help wildlife bounce back as a positive action against climate change rather than opting for other offset approaches. Trees for Life has promised that these trees will never be used for any commercial purpose, for example by felling for timber, and also will not disturb existing habitats or use land intended for food production.

Jonny (one of our brilliant Directors) outlined the case that the majority of current global warming and carbon dioxide accumulation has occurred due to human activity since the 1950s, with continuing contribution by companies such as ours (founded in 2010). Activities such as electronic equipment manufacture and usage, alongside business travel and office power and heating all contribute to carbon dioxide emissions. Even being online and operating through the cloud makes up around 3% of these emissions. He recognised that while we cannot control or restrict how our team members live their lives or travel to work, for example, we have the ability to address our overall impact on carbon dioxide accumulation through our work activities by funding the good work of others.

Jonny’s Proposal

Jonny’s proposal suggested that planting at least 100 trees per year in a sustainably managed rewilding project would help to offset a large amount of our carbon emissions for things such as office equipment, mobile phones and train journeys, as well as online usage and office maintenance. He worked out that 200-300 trees per year may be enough for our company to be one step closer to becoming carbon neutral, meaning that as much carbon could be removed as is emitted ^[1]. Our team were quick to champion the proposal, including me, and it was put into practice with the first donation being made in February 2021. Since then, we have planted a tree per month for every staff member, reaching a total of 887 trees as of March 2023. It is my responsibility to increase our contribution when new team members join and to maintain our online grove.

DFC Values

Our contribution to Trees for Life aligns perfectly with our values. DFC takes inspiration from Mike Dempsey’s ‘Design Business Tips’ which includes taking on interesting projects, exuding enthusiasm and absorbing influences. When choosing clients, we work with those who display a correct level of care and hope to apply a similar precedent to our impact on the environment. We take pride in being a rewarding business to work for. This partnership demonstrates that while we appreciate our work environment, we also believe that we should take this same approach to respecting and sustaining our world’s wonderful nature.

Rewilding Centre

Since the drafting of this blog began, Trees for Life has recently opened their Dundreggan Rewilding Centre which allowed visitors to explore one of the few remaining parts of Scotland’s ancient Caledonian forest, I’m hopeful that some of us will have the opportunity to visit and see their amazing work for ourselves in the coming months (I may need to run this by the Directors first! Note the use of ‘brilliant Directors’ earlier).

Final Thoughts

On a more personal level, it brings me a sense of satisfaction and fulfilment to be involved in the project since it was proposed. I have championed it and fully support its continuation. Recently, the climate emergency has become more apparent in the news, with Antarctica’s sea ice levels reaching the lowest ever recorded. As a mother of three, it concerns me that my family may grow up in an increasingly unstable world, under the threat of further climate change and the disasters that arise from it. However, our tree grove gives me and many other members of the team, a sense of hope that while global warming may be perceived as irreversible, we can all do our best to try to halt it. I believe that it is incredibly important, especially in modern times, that companies such as DFC offset their carbon emissions and try to positively impact the climate in order to minimise our overall impact on our Earth.

Click here to visit DFC’s Tree Grove page.

^[1] This means we’re taking steps to remove the equivalent amount of CO2 to what’s emitted through activities across our supply chains, by investing in ‘carbon sinks’ that absorb CO2 (source: Nationalgrid.com).

Gallery images: ©TreeForLife and ©ChrisAldridge.
Featured image: ©PaulCampbellPhotography