🌲Beautreeful interview with Miha Hrovat from Treeclet.

First off here comes a little “Prologue”.

I sincerely hope that you have heard of the company treeclet before.

They are a relatively wrinkle free company (young, some would say)

that sells different kinds of bracelets.

These bracelets each represent a country, where with the proceeds of each purchase, trees are planted (they also sell phone cases, water bottles, cotton bags,...but bracelets are the main thing).

🌲With the help of their partners Eden Reforestation project (https://edenprojects.org/) and One tree planted (https://onetreeplanted.org/) they plant trees all over the world.

🌍From Australia to Haiti, Madagascar, Kenya, Tanzania, Australia, Indonesia and California, they literally go all over the world to make sure that the impacts of deforestation are embanked.

But they don’t stop there.

🦥🦏They have got several animal protection projects going,

with the goal to protect and rebuild the natural habitat of several species which you can support by buying a koala, sloth, rhino, elephant,... bracelet.

🌱Treeclet a company worth mentioning and supporting.

I had the opportunity to ask Miha Hrovat, one of the founders, a few questions and to get the "inside scoop"🧐.

Enjoy.

Hi Miha, thank you for taking time to talk to me today!

First I would like to ask you about how the idea of Treeclet was born?

Was there something like a “defining moment?

It came pretty organically. My family had a carpentry that had been run for more than three generations. As me and my brother grew older we noticed how much wood we were using and it started to get us thinking about the toll that it was taking on nature. We wanted to give back to nature with the goal of giving back more than we were taking from it.

Long story short, we became the first CO2 neutral craftsmen company in Slovenia.

The feedback was amazing and we also took social aspects into account.

Some of our bracelets are made by people who have disabilities and have difficulties getting a job elsewhere.

When you started Treeclet was there a part of you that did it out of fear for the future? Did you experience eco-anxiety?

Well, fear was also a factor but definitely not the biggest one.

We think about the future but don’t fear it.

We know that there need to be systematic changes.

We just need to continue working toward them and each make our individual contribution.

We are trying to make more and more of a positive impact, but based on optimism and hope.

How do you pick the places where you plant trees?

We look at the situation an area is in. We go where we are needed most and where deforestation and pollution are especially bad.

For now our tree planting partners take care of most of the bureaucracy.

We are working towards employing people ourselves in the affected areas to plant trees.

We have done that in Tanzania where we have worked with the communities directly.

How does the tree planting process work?

After we have selected the area and the bureaucracy is done we plant the trees. Once they are planted the trees get watered and looked after until they have a certain maturity level.

The sights are also protected by guards and it is made sure that they don’t just get cut down again.

People also ask why we don’t plant in Europe.

First of all, the situation is not as bad yet as in other countries and even remote areas are controlled by the government.

At the beginning we tried planting in Slovenia which was a no-go.

What are eco-friendly things that you do in your everyday life?

One of the things is being vegan and buying organic clothing.

We also advocate sustainability in our office. We have a compost and encourage our coworkers to minimize the consumption of meat and using the bike to get to work whenever is possible. Of course you can’t force it on anybody but we try to live our values.

What in your opinion is something that anybody should do that makes a huge impact?

Eat less meat.

It isn’t healthy to eat too much of it in the first place.

You can just start by minimizing it. You don’t have to be 100 % vegan but you soon realize that the damage that is done to the environment by the meat industry is huge.

So cutting down on it is a win win situation for humans and nature.

What would be your number 1 plea to politicians or the government?

I don’t want to get political, we really believe that it is the individuals choice about how we live and what we buy.

You vote with your money by supporting whatever you are buying.

We don’t think that it is a solution to put the responsibility only on the government.

What would you say to people who feel helpless and overwhelmed by the suffering of nature but have a hard time "being more sustainable".

I think it's important to start slowly. You don't need to make drastic changes at once. These often don't last. Just work at it, educate yourself and try to get better. Work at it daily and you'll come closer and closer.

What would it take to sufficiently reforest our planet?

That is very hard to predict. I can't say. The deforestation rate is still way too high and all we can do is to try to reduce it by buying less, eating less meat and influencing people and raising awareness so that we have a better chance at succeeding.

Do you have some goals to reach or constant struggles that you face with your company?

Yes of course. An ongoing topic is always making our products and packaging as sustainable as possible.

It is a process and we are always working on it and trying to learn to be more efficient.

We also want to evolve further and build a community that constantly contributes and supports the cause.

The goal is to constantly empower and educate people so that they don’t just make a one time purchase but really become advocates themselves and educate other people to do their part for the planet so that the positive impact is as big as possible.

Thank you so much for taking time to answer my questions Miha!

🌱🌍🦏💚🦥🌱

I hope y’all enjoyed this blog and that you find it worthwhile to check out @treeclet on Instagram or their website https://treecelet.co.uk/

Thanks for reading!💚

See ya next blog💚👋🏼

Xx Stella