Gav and I went for a meeting a few nights ago. Well I say meeting, it was more of a jog in the dark. Anyone lurking in the bushes would have seen two guys, jogging along, head torches bobbing, One Tree dog Alfie in tow, discussing what has been happening in the six weeks or so.
Assuming there was anyone lurking in the bushes they’d be able to tell you that a lot has been going on! They probably don’t have access to update our blog though, so you’ll have to take it from me.
Here’s a quick round up of the projects, discussions and forward movement we’ve had:
One Tree will soon be a Not For Profit
Gav has been working hard to get One Tree set up as an official entity. Up to now we’ve been discussing how best to set up the organisation and the conclusion that we came to is that being a Not For Profit fits our vision better than being a charity.
Becoming a Not For Profit meant that we needed to set up a board of directors to oversee the organisation and allows us to set up a bank account to take payments from the companies taking our pledges and look at how to raise money for the organisation.
Our first board meeting!
On the 22nd of October we had our first board meeting. It was held in the basement room of a local cafe. The orange light above us gave everything a 70s, gritty cop drama feel. It didn’t dampen our spirits. Newly appointed board-members Lou (Secretary) and Ali (Treasurer) joined Gav, Sam, Gaia and myself (Andy) to discuss what was in the pipeline, share ideas, start to form a 3 year plan and write a mission statement.
Discussions were challenging, exciting, optimistic, wide ranging and ambitious. We have a huge range of complementary ideas and directions to explore. In the coming months and we will share our goals, projects and visions as we confirm them.
One Sleeve at a Time
One of our major challenges at present is funding. As a not for profit we can apply for grants and take donations but we want to be more proactive in how we fund ourselves. Our first step on this road is One Sleeve.
One Sleeve is an e-commerce site that will sell repaired and warrantied ski and snowboard gear with the twin aims of reducing the amount of winter apparel that ends up in land-fill and raising money for One Tree’s activities. The idea is to give local skiers and snowboarders an alternative to buying brand new gear when they need to replace a jacket, sallopettes or insulation layer.
The site will have a soft launch selling the best gear left over from last year’s Fix It events (the seed from which One Tree grew). However the preloved gear will be a secondary offering for One Sleeve. The most exciting products will come from an innovative, eco-friendly ski clothing brand who we are partnering with. The mystery brand (details of who it is very soon!) will send us their warrantied and sample stock for us to repair and sell and won’t accept a cent for the stock. The gear is all perfectly suitable for a life on the slopes but somewhat uneconomical for the brand to sell themselves.
Everyone benefits from this arrangement. The brand solves the problem of what to do their warrantied and sample stock. The consumer gets to save money on virtually new ski gear. And One Tree gets to generate revenue in a way that fits in with our ethics and eco friendly goals.
One Tree on Teemill
To support our tree planting program we are now selling One Tree teeshirts via Teemill. Each tee purchased means another 25 trees planted (more for a hoody!). All our graphic design is done by the very talented Courtney Flannagan and the tees look mint! The “Jerry” tee is a personal favourite.
One Tree Donations
We are currently investigating the best option for taking donations directly from our supporters. The donations would be split between the upkeep costs of One Tree (staff payments, expenses, digital infrastructure etc) and tree planting. This is a way for our supporters to make one off or regular donations to our cause.
One Tree Pledges
The pledges that are already making a difference. The Boot Lab staff are traveling by train. Sitegeist has moved 15 sites to renewable powered servers saving approximately 3.5 tons of CO2. Sam has been testing various electricity monitors with Fish and Pips to help reduce consumption this winter.
UPDATE – We’re over subscribed!
Our pledge system is designed to change the way ski industry businesses operate. We’ve had so many sign-ups that for the next 6 months we’re not taking anymore applications. We are now focused on delivering change to the companies that have already committed.
If you’re a business looking to get involved then we still encourage you to take our pledge. This will add you to our list of companies wanting to sign up in the future. And by looking at the pledges it will give you a head start on making your company environmentally friendly.
