Creating Social Impact using Forest Nation with Andrew Frankland
Scale By Numbers Podcast
WHO WAS OUR GUEST: Andrew Frankland | Director of Operations | ForestNation
HOW TO CONTACT ForestNation: Website | LinkedIn
🌲WHO IS ForestNation: ForestNation is a marketing company that provides environmental marketing services centered around reforestation in deforested areas like Tanzania, Haiti, Ethiopia, Kenya, and regions in South America. ForestNation offers branded sustainable products and options for companies that support the environment, is fully sustainable, and adds an educational piece that engages all involved with reforestation as an action.
The ForestNation mission is to reforest Mother Earth and motivate audiences to grow and plant their own trees. They do this by “creating products and services like tree planting kits that help you achieve your own goals, which results in more trees being brought to life. “
🌲WHAT DO THEY DO? With every item purchased and action taken on their website, ForestNation will plant trees in areas hit hard by deforestation and industrial agriculture. Through this program, they focus on generating sustainable livelihoods in developing countries with a goal to “stimulate local economies; develop leadership roles for women; and create a brighter outlook for future generations.”
By default, organizations that work with ForestNation help not only their own communities, but contribute significantly to the greater good.
🌲WHY ENVIRONMENTAL MARKETING: The marketing world is a key driver towards negative environmental and social impact. Within the US alone, promotional products are worth appx 25 billion. When you look at promotional products like hats, pens, USB Sticks, –most branded products end up in the trash and are not biodegradable. From creation to getting to the landfill, we have had to use fossil-fuel generated plastics and products.
Once the item makes it to the landfill, we are looking at a negative ROI for the company that purchased it and a 100% negative impact on the environment.
🌲HOW CAN FORESTNATION HELP YOU AS YOU SCALE: When you engage your customers and audience members in the full circle of sustainability from planting to growth to harvesting, you create a “full arc of awareness ” and education that goes all the way through to the company. The benefits created from engaging your audience to plant a tiny seed- creates a unique style of brand loyalty that a pen or a hat just will not create.
The brand loyalty created through this process is phenomenal. A small start-up can take their marketing efforts to a more meaningful level with items that boost engagement, and promote corporate social responsibility.
🌲EFFECTS OF DEFORESTATION: The purpose of trees is not just to capture carbon or to produce oxygen for our life, our livelihoods, but it’s actually to create sustainable livelihoods for the majority of human beings on the planet. Because we are still the minority, the majority of people are farming. And when you begin taking that resource away, you start creating huge, huge volumes of very poor people and famine.
Planting trees in these heavily deforested areas is the solution. If we are able to start planting forests to mitigate that, and to create food security, we have engaged that person who gets that tree at home, with planting trees to save lives.
🌲TAKE ACTION: If you are interested in being a part of the Vanreusel Ventures Forest, please reach out and let us know; we will gladly send you your very own tree kit!