What is Earth Day?

Happy Earth Day! Every year since 1970, on April 22, global citizens join forces to celebrate our wonderful Green Planet and highlight the importance of environmental sustainability.  Today, Earth Day is widely recognised as the largest secular observance in the world, marked by more than a billion people. 

The theme of Earth Day 2023 is 'Invest in our Planet', and asks each of us - brands and consumers alike - to come together and fight for a green revolution. 

"Our world needs transformation. It’s time for the people of the world to hold governments and the private sector accountable for their role in our environmental crisis while also calling for bold, creative, and innovative solutions." Earthday.org 

That's where we come in. As individuals, we have the power to make our voices heard through our purchasing choices, by being ever more discerning about what we buy and who we shop with. As businesses, we can work to reduce our environmental impact by assessing our supply chains, the materials we use, and the way we ship our products.  

For more inspiration you can check out this great resource from EarthDay.org - there are so many small actions we can take, that add up to a huge collective impact. 

How Tentsile Invests in Our Planet

Tree Planting

The very foundation of our brand is built upon Tree Planting. From the outset, we have pledged to protect global forests from deforestation with every Tree Tent we sold. Over the past decade we have worked with a number of tree planting partners to rejuvenate and replenish deforested areas, whilst assisting communities to move away from destructive practices such as logging and slash and burn, by offering viable alternative sources of income and food security. For every Tree Tent and Hammock that you purchase, we plant 20 trees - and have proudly planted over 966,000 so far. 

Want to plant a Tree yourself? Check out this guide that gives you all the pointers you need! 

1% For The Planet

Each year we donate 1% of our Revenue to 1% For the Planet, all of which goes towards supporting conservation projects around the world. We are very proud partners of this climate positive initiative, which brings brands together - large or small - to create a coalition of environmentally minded folk who together make big things happen. 

European Outdoor Conservation Association

There are currently over 150 members of this environmental association, of which we are proudly one. Membership is open to any company operating in the Outdoors sector, whether they are a manufacturer, supplier, service provider or retailer. One hundred per cent of membership fees go directly into the projects that are nominated by and voted for by the members themselves.

This Earth Day why not treat yourself to some new gear at a fraction of the price, by shopping with the EOCA backed project Outdoor Gear For Good (hint: you might find some brand new Tentsile gear on there too...!). 

Carbon Conscious shipping 

We choose to ship our gear by sea freight, as it is 100x less polluting than shipping by Air. It may be slower, and means that we sometimes run out of stock, but we would rather lose out on a sale here and there than pollute our planet! 

Reclaiming Ocean Plastic

Last year we launched two new products to the range - made from reclaimed Ocean plastics! The Ocean UNA and Ocean Solo Hammock are available on store now. Now you can hike and bikepack to your hearts content, in the knowledge that your Tree Tent purchase has actively removed plastic pollution from our Oceans. 

Say No to Fast Fashion 

"Behind every piece of clothing in a store, there is an industry stripping the Earth of its limited resources and exploiting the labor force that works in its garment factories. Tremendous waste characterizes this industry as it depletes healthy soil, contaminates fresh water sources, pollutes the air we breathe, defiles our oceans, destroys forests and damages eco-systems and the health of their biodiversity." - EarthDay.org

That's why we've partnered up with TeeMill to offer a range of sustainably made clothing. We use renewable energy, recycled materials, GOTS certified organic cotton and plastic-free packaging in the production of any of our Apparel range.

As you can see - we take sustainability seriously, and we know our customers do too. Let's keep practising what we preach, walking the walk, and putting pressure on the powers that be to strive for planet positive solutions. We can do it, together. 

Kirstie Grego