Any activity, however sustainable, has a direct and indirect impact on planet Earth.

That claim may lead to confusion, but it’s true and realistic. For example, if I used to need five liters of water to produce a garment and now I only need two, I have reduced the number of resources, but my product continues to damage the environment.

At Trendsplant, we believe that belonging to 1% of the planet means paying a voluntary sustainability tax: a tax we impose on ourselves for damaging the environment through our everyday work.

It’s an optional tax that we pay as part of our commitment to sustainability, and we encourage any company that is genuinely concerned about the future to pay it. This type of action helps us pay more attention to what we could do to become more sustainable. It also helps us reflect on something very important: there is still massive room for improvement in sustainability.

 

A crossroads 

Once we were certain we wanted to be involved in 1% for the planet, we then had to decide who or what would be the recipient of our 1% turnover. 

We have a very special attachment to elephants, as our logo clearly demonstrates. The values associated with this animal are in our brand’s DNA: strength, nobility, a nomadic spirit, and fidelity. 

Often in life, you meet people naturally, without looking for them, and that was what happened with John Steward and Wendy Hapgood, of the Wild Tomorrow Fund. 

Through a friend of our brand, we learned about the activity they have spent years performing in Africa after turning their lives upside down and devoting themselves to the protection of endangered species. 

John had been a creative director in one of the world's best advertising agencies, and Wendy had worked as director of foreign exchange sales for Barclays and Citibank. The couple decided to change everything and devote themselves to preserving life. 

We immediately shared their vision: we need to ensure that our wildlife is safe for the sake of generations to come. 

We were certain that our 1% of the planet should go to them, helping them improve their work in southern Africa by expanding and protecting the habitats of animals such as elephants. 

We'll tell you more about their activity and remind you that you can also be part of this global movement individually: you can donate 1% of your salary to this cause.