Treekly: Turning your footsteps into forests

We first heard of Treekly at the beginning of National Walking Month, unaware of the company and its mission; we started a ‘walk together’ group via the app to motivate the office to get steps in and from the offset, the competitive sides came out! For those unaware, Treekly is an app with a refreshing idea that encourages you to do small everyday activities which can have a big impact: walk to plant trees, simple! We loved the idea as it allows everyone to play a part in helping the environment and encourages you to get up and active for a good cause. Based in Norwich, the Treekly co-founders are on a mission to enable the average person to help in the battle against climate change. Inspired by a previous business model and a project one of the co-founders was working on around children starting school already obese, added with the nationwide stress of COVID-19 and climate anxiety; Jon and Keith utilised this worry and provided a solution. Teaming up to create Treekly, where your footsteps can make a difference. The app began with 500 users during lockdown and has recently seen a substantial growth to over 14,000 users and is now being used in over 50 different countries.

How it works

The app tracks your steps through a programme you select; this could be Apple Health, Android, Garmin, etc. The target is to complete 5,000 steps each day for 5 days of the week and if you succeed these steps will be rewarded with a tree planted in your name. It can be any 5 days, in the 7-day week. You can do this as an individual or make groups with friends, family or colleagues and enjoy some healthy competition whilst contributing towards a great cause.
To contribute even more, Treekly offers a subscription service of x which allows you to plant a tree every day regardless of the steps. By planting a tree per day, you can become carbon neutral!

Planting

Treekly is a small company, consisting of 5 members (2 being the co-founders) but these employees do not plant the trees themselves. The company has partnered with a charity called the Eden Reforestation Project to plant trees that we earn from our steps.
The charity has projects all over the world, having planted over a billion trees and provided jobs to support growing economies. To list a few there is Haiti, Nepal, Mozambique and directly associated with Treekly is Madagascar. Hosting the largest reforestation project of them all, the planting team in Madagascar have saved the country from complete deforestation.

Locals were once paid to cut them down; they are now being paid to replant them. Over 10 years ago the country had been 95% deforested, which had torrential implications on the climate and on general wellbeing, people chose to flee for a better life. However, thanks to the Eden Reforestation Projects and generous donations, the country has been nearly reformed back to its original state, planting and protecting over 776 million trees and providing 8,800 employees with fair wages.

Steps

Not only does the app allow you to offset carbon emissions it also provides a motivator in getting up and completing a good number of steps each day which can have many positive effects on your health. For those who work at home or in office jobs, or just those in general where your steps are limited, moving around can be forgotten or a low priority. Completing 5000 steps a day can reduce stress levels, improve your sleep, increase cardiovascular fitness, and so much more.

Getting involved

Net zero is the goal for businesses around the world, most have the funding available specifically for this goal but don’t know how and where to spend it. This is where Treekly have been helpful, essentially playing the middleman, Treekly provides the technology and companies fund the footsteps into forests. The sponsor amount will determine the number of trees for a set amount of time, whether you’re a small company or a large one, everyone is encouraged to get involved. This app provides everyone with a chance to personally battle climate change and the more people involved the better!

To learn more about Treekly, whether you’re a company that wants to sponsor or you’re someone that just wants to do their bit for the environment, click the link here for their website and start planting today!