veritree X BE Ultimate: Planting trees to make an impact
Earth Day is a reminder that we should all be keeping our planet top of mind. At BE Ultimate we aim to continue to uphold proper sustainable business practices, start new initiatives, and maintain partnerships with organizations that hold us accountable and push us to reach our ever growing goals.
Earth Day Initiatives
For Earth Day this year, BE Ultimate is taking an important step towards building on our current sustainability practices and growing our positive environmental impact. On April 22nd 2024 we are beginning a new initiative with veritree that involves 5 trees to be planted for every retail store purchase through BE Ultimate moving forward. Further, to kick the initiative off, we will be increasing our commitment to 8 trees per retail store purchase for the first 8 days of the initiative.
Why veritree?
Veritree, with its commitment to transparency and data-driven results, provides BE Ultimate a platform that connects us with a global network of organizations dedicated to the stewardship of local ecosystems. This platform, further, allows for the ongoing monitoring of planted trees and ecosystems, ensuring their health and growth over the decades. By utilizing data and technology, veritree is able to generate long-term survival projections that are statistically modeled based on the extensive data they collect through their monitoring efforts. This capability enables veritree to maintain high levels of transparency and not over-promise with respect to what they sell - reliably planted trees and regenerated ecosystems that will be around for decades to come.
“Veritree’s capabilities of monitoring the projects they work with is top tier. They have worked with their partners to equip planters and monitors with technology and data-generating tools, allowing them to hold accountable local stewards, forecast with greater precision, and overall be more transparent about the work being done on the ground.” CEO Rumi Tejpar shares.
We acknowledge that there are corporations out there that do not follow through on the promises they make and skew the information they provide. Lack of measurement, double counting, fragmented processes, and lack of transparency are all, unfortunately, common in this industry.
Veritree sets a higher standard, using technology to monitor not only the ground level tree planting but even more importantly they provide statistics of the longevity of the forest and track the outcomes as well as the holistic impact of every project. Veritree follows 5 crucial processes to maintain their transparency with technology:
- Project Management
- Data Collection & Monitoring Technologies
- Verification
- Publishing
- User Engagement
Click here to learn more about veritree’s processes and technologies!
Growing a Partnership With veritree
The initial connection came a few years back when BE Ultimate’s CEO Rumi Tejpar stumbled by their office in Vancouver. He was intrigued at the time with what veritree was doing, but did not take action.
Fast Forward a few years and in early 2024, Rumi was speaking at the same conference as veritree Founder & CEO Derrick Emsley - this reignited the idea that BE could work with veritree, and from there they started the process. From the beginning veritree (and tentree) set big goals for positive change while upholding a transparent process that is very admirable. They reached a monumental 100 million trees planted in 2022 and are now headed towards restoration being embedded into over 100,000 businesses by 2030.
With veritree our partnership is focused on three specific areas that are in need of the planting and restoration. These areas are our home province of British Columbia for fire restoration, Oregon for fire restoration and Kenya for mangroves planting.
Being partnered with a corporation like this will push BE into our next phase of sustainability practices and hold us accountable for new goals that can have a direct impact on the environment.
BE Transparent
No business and no human is perfect when it comes to living a sustainable life but here at BE we focus on always looking to push the needle forward at every opportunity.
Rumi Tejpar speaks to what it means to be starting this new initiative “The rubric for us to create a new initiative or a new change has to do with stakeholder value, meaning we have to be creating value for our communities, our customers, our employees and our company as a whole. And that is the rubric in which we assess and will continue to assess our sustainability efforts”
Adopting new practices doesn't imply abandoning our current ones. As we enter our fourth year of Climate Neutral certification, it’s a constant reminder that one of our most significant ongoing goals is still left unchecked: utilizing recycled fabrics. Transitioning to recycled fabrics has been a three-year labor. We are still making progress and are hoping that this year will be the year when it all fits together.
In order to redefine other areas of our corporate sustainability we’ve made the decision to slow down our digital ads and instead take the budget that we were giving to Meta and put it into the initiative through veritree. By redirecting our spend from Meta directly into veritree we hope that our total cost of acquisition will either stay the same or slightly increase, but our impact would be much more positive.
“Sustainability has to be at the forefront of any company that wants to have a positive impact and the things we are doing are aimed to maximize our impact across all our stakeholders” says Rumi.
Recertifications & Accountability
So what does it really mean to be B Corp or Climate Neutral Certified? From Change Climate a Climate Neutral Certification means that we are held accountable for our greenhouse gas emissions. A B Corp Certification shows that we as a business meet strict standards for performance, accountability, and transparency across the entire business, with the end goal of building inclusive, equitable, and regenerative business models.
BE is proud to uphold these certifications and respect their purpose of pushing our business to be better.
Read more in our BCorp and Climate Neutral Blogs.
BE Sustainable With Us
BE Ultimate invites everyone to join us in being sustainable on this day and every day. A number of the BE staff bike to work regularly and reduce emissions by taking public transit on those rainy days. There are so many ways to do your part in a small but impactful way. Recycle at the office, support a sustainable partner, volunteer for clean ups in your area and conserve water! Every action counts towards a more sustainable future.
Learn more about the history of Earth Day, specific initiatives and how you can donate today.
Check out the Earth Day Website
Sustainability on Earth Day & Every Day
Every day we aim to BE better when it comes to our sustainability practices. Through our new veritree initiative, B Corp certification, and Climate Neutral status we strive to show that being sustainable isn't just a trend—it's a mindset that guides every decision.
Take part in our Plant 8 activation and have 8 trees planted for every purchase on our retail store until May 1st. We will then continue on with our new standard of 5 trees planted with every purchase from here on out!
Shop Now