We don’t know if you know, but we’re part of a dream tree-m. This Black Friday marks the fifth year of our partnership with the female-founded charity TreeSisters to aid reforestation and climate repair.

In 2021, tree cover losses in northern regions of the world were the highest on record, due in part to wildfires and agricultural expansion. Deforestation plays a huge role in the the ever-growing impact of climate change and was one of the key factors behind COVID-19. 96% of this deforestation takes place in the world’s tropical regions.

It’s a vicious cycle that we want to help counter and reverse, offsetting our carbon footprint and working to rebuild forests. But we also don’t want to compromise on delivering the best service to our customers. 

Missoma x TreeSisters: How It Works

Every order you place during our Black Friday event supports reforestation and community projects with TreeSisters. The charity plants and maintains trees in diverse ecosystems along the tropical belt, while supporting women in the communities where they grow.

We’re very much aware of the environmental damage that can be caused by the packaging and shipping of hundreds of orders, which are all unfortunate and inevitable side effects of shipping our products. Giving back during the busiest global retail time of the year is incredibly important to us and our sustainability goals.

More Than 1 Million Trees

For the last four Black Fridays our goal has been to plant 1 million trees with TreeSisters by 2026. We’ve already planted 250,000 trees with them — a fact that makes us incredibly proud — but now the charity has evolved, and we stand with them every step of the way.

TreeSisters are shifting their narrative away from the monetisation of nature (for example, for every £1 we plant one tree) and towards broader impacts and ethical reforestation. Instead of the number of trees in the ground as a singular metric of success, they're ensuring that their reforestation work is led by both the environmental impacts and the needs of those living and working on their projects. After all, our environment is bigger than just trees: it’s also water, supply systems, and communities. We're still fighting back against deforestation and climate change and for gender equality, we’re just taking a more holistic (and more effective) approach to restore the earth.

Calculating the Carbon

We’ve also partnered with climate tech platform Vaayu since 2021, becoming the first jewellery brand to calculate and offset the carbon from all deliveries and returns (including Black Friday) in real time. This means customers can track how much carbon we’re emitting into the atmosphere from their deliveries and know exactly how it'll be offset.

Through Norway-based climate solution platform CHOOOSE, we're supporting projects we care about to offset our carbon. Currently our projects include supporting indigenous communities in the Tambopata-Bahuaja Biodiversity Reserve, protecting endangered wildlife in Kenya With Chyulu Hills REDD+, and saving tropical forests with Southern Cardamoms REDD+. In January 2023 we will be switching our projects to focus on renewable energy.

Women Supporting Women to Help the Environment

What first attracted us to TreeSisters was the non-profit organisation’s dedication to being run by women, with the motto of women ‘seeding change’ for the environment. This aligns perfectly with our values as a female-founded business with 80% female leadership.

TreeSisters encourage feminine leadership by providing resources, experiences and communities that inspire personal and collective action on behalf of the trees. Let’s dig into two of their projects (out of many more) to see how they impact women in those areas.

1. Nepal -/- Treesisters has been supporting Eden Reforestation Projects in Nepal since October 2017. The 'Terai forest Restoration Project' aims to empower and engage local communities to regrow and protect the vibrant lowland tropical forests in the Terai region. Villagers, mostly farmers, and particularly women, are employed to grow, plant and guard trees. The 'Employ to Plant' strategy provides the poorest people in the region with a job, a consistent income, and a sense of accomplishment. As a result, it helps families dealing with childhood malnutrition, famines, and inability to afford childhood education. The project aims to build the capacity of female village employees, for them to become managers and nursery leaders.
2. Madagascar -/- The charity has also been funding the reforestation of coastal forests (primarily dry deciduous forest) near the city of Mahajanga in western Madagascar since October 2017. Female empowerment is a primary objective for Eden Reforestation Projects in Madagascar. The organisation helped to finance the Sarobidy Women's Centre. Sarobidy means " precious" in Malagasy. The Centre provides prenatal, birthing and postnatal care in Mahajanga. This TreeSisters project employs at a minimum 60% female villagers, therefore greatly directly benefiting the women and their families.

How You Can Help

Every Missoma order you place this Black Friday makes a positive impact on the planet, supporting TreeSisters in their incredible work towards reforestation, gender equality and empowering communities.