Tree Planting with Joules and The Woodland Trust

If you’ve been following the blog or my Instagram for a while then you will probably be familiar with my Green is the New Black series. If you’re new here, allow me to explain. I’m basically always on the lookout for ways to live a more sustainable life. So I created a blog series to feature businesses, individuals and or products that are making a difference in our world, and to hopefully inspire others to make better choices. I feel like climate change and the future of our planet has been catapulted to the forefront of the news in the last 12 months, and rightly so. It can’t be on the back burner anymore. If things are going to change then we all need to hunker down and really start taking action. So when I was invited along to a Joules tree planting day in association with the Woodland Trust, I didn’t just jump at the chance to be involved; I practically bounded!

Picture the scene if you will. It’s a bright but cold day in February. Storm Ciara has just battered pretty much the entire UK but a VERY muddy Derbyshire field is filled with both colour and enthusiasm. Myself and the gorgeous gang from Joules, all kitted out in our coats and wellies were, gathered together to receive a quick lesson in the importance of tree planting and how to actually do it. Did you know that planting trees is a fantastic way to combat climate change? Every tree that’s in the ground is doing its bit by capturing the carbon that is in the air and locking it away. Planting new woodlands also means that we are creating habitats for wildlife and providing places for our future generations to be able to visit and enjoy. Joules have actually pledged to plant a whopping 250,000 trees by 2022 and you can help them achieve this.  Even if you don’t get chance to attend a Joules tree planting day like this one, you can still absolutely be involved – keep reading.

After the tree planting demonstration, armed with bags of native saplings (oak, hazel and rose to name a few) we embarked on our mission. I teamed up with fellow blogger Holly Made Life who, I was thrilled to discover, was just as giddy about tree planting as I was. It took us a couple of trees to really get in to the swing of it but it wasn’t long before we were pretty much planting pros (we thought so anyway).

When we were told that it was lunchtime, I was a little upset to leave our baby trees but I also absolutely ready to refuel. Oh and don’t let the beautiful blue skies in these photos fool you. Ciara may indeed have moved on but it was bitterly cold out in that field, so once the words “Tea” and “Pizza” were mentioned, I was off. Dough Truck Pizza looked after us so incredibly well with freshly made delicious pizzas – meaty, spicy, veggie and vegan options, all served from their very cool Land Rover Defender. It couldn’t have been more fitting really for the day, the field and the mud!

After lunch we decided to head back out there for tree planting part 2 and by this point we were getting through them quite quickly. In fact, as a group combined, we planted over 1000 trees at this Joules tree planting event. That’s some pretty good going right? Just 249,000 more to go. But seriously, it really was a fabulous event and not only was I so proud to be a part of it but it was beyond heartwarming to see such a huge group of people getting so involved and passionate about helping to create a better future.  Back to the numbers – the UK needs 50 million new trees per year to hit net zero carbon emissions by 2050. This equates to a million new hectares of woodland cover, and approximately 1.5 billion trees. This is where you come in. For every pair of wellies that Joules sell in March and April, they will plant one tree. Not only are Joules’ wellies absolutely gorgeous (yes I picked leopard print), I can definitely vouch for how effective they are after an entire morning spent in the muddiest field I’ve ever seen. You can also donate to the Woodland Trust by purchasing one of Joules’ sustainable jute bags, with £1 from the sale going directly to the charity.

So a massive thanks to Joules and the Woodland Trust for organising such a brilliant event. And as always, thanks to you for being here.

Beth Anne xoxo

*Wellies and Coat GIFTED by Joules