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Planting for future

Planting for future

Interview: Dominic Walker, GreenTheUK

1) Please describe your professional role at GreenTheUK 

My role at GreenTheUK is working within the Sales department to connect with organisations who are looking to support wildlife initiatives here in the UK. The organisations we work with come from various industries across the country - it’s important to understand the space they work in, where in the country they are based and what impact they would like to make to pinpoint a project local to them where they can make a positive contribution. My day-to-day involves speaking to a wide range of interesting people who are already doing fantastic things for our environment and wanting to do even more. By working together, we can build a more liveable, breathable, and green space to live. I also work to promote the benefits of nature-based solutions to combat climate change. It’s crucial that our projects are carried out to the highest possible standard by experts, to last for generations to come.

2) Please describe your private daily life involvement with sustainability

Each and every one of us at GreenTheUK is passionate about living and working in such a way as to minimise our impact on the planet. Earlier this year, I started a wildflower garden on the balcony of my flat when I learned that we have lost 97% of our wildflowers in England. I wanted to do my small bit to help our native pollinators get from A to B. In terms of the products I purchase at home, I am always looking to support B Corporations, buy as much plastic-free packaging I can, and reduce waste. It really is as simple as reduce, reuse, recycle. Travel is also an area in which I look to minimise my impact. Recently, I have started to take holiday breaks here in the UK, travelling by train. I use a booking platform - Trainhugger - so that each of my train journeys plants trees. Overall, I try to always take a moment to be more mindful about the impact my actions have on our local environment.

3) Why is sustainability important to GreenTheUK?

Sustainability is at the very core of what we do at GreenTheUK. We are working hard to make the UK a greener and more liveable space by encouraging businesses to support local projects with a real, measurable impact on our environment. Last planting season alone, we helped to plant 30,000 climate resilient trees, with many more planned for this season. This autumn, we also aim to plant up to 30 hectares of wildflowers here in the UK. In addition to their fantastic carbon sequestration benefits, our projects have a huge impact on the local biodiversity, which helps all aspects of nature to flourish. We will continue to support the important work of wildlife and conservation projects around the country, as well as helping to educate school children about the important role nature-based solutions have in helping to combat climate change in the years to come. From paperless working to maintaining remote working days to minimise travel, GreenTheUK strives to make the sustainable choice at every turn. Being a small team allows us to be conscious about our impact and to continually focus on areas for improvement.

4) Which concrete actions are GreenTheUK and SRO taking in 2022 and what these actions mean in terms of the environment?

GreenTheUK has partnered with SRO to support the planting of 500 climate resilient trees in Norfolk, England. By planting different species, we can strengthen our forests against the threats posed by climate change and disease. This helps to ensure that these forests provide their known benefits such as carbon sequestration, boosting biodiversity, and even improving mental health. Douglas fir trees take about 50 years to reach maturity and oak trees will take over 100 years. During this time, these trees will be taking carbon from the atmosphere and locking it away. Timber from Douglas fir and oak can be used by future generations for building (where it will continue to store carbon) and new trees will continue to be planted in their place. English oak is the undisputed king of the woods, supporting more wildlife species than any other native tree in the UK.

5) In which fields do you see GreenTheUK working together with SRO on building a sustainable future for motorsports?

Following the success of our initial year of partnership, it would be fantastic to help SRO continue supporting a diverse range of local wildlife projects here in the UK, connected to each event organized.