Our 1% for the Planet commitment
Part one: Supporting Action For Conservation
Who are 1% for the Planet?
Established in 2002 by Yvon Chouinard, Patagonia founder, and Craig Mathews, Blue Ribbon Flies founder, 1% for the Planet is an alliance of businesses that understand the necessity of protecting the natural environment.
As a brand, we believe actions speak louder than words and that we can do more together than we can alone. Being a member of the 1% for the Planet business alliance means that we have pledged to donate 1% of our annual sales to nonprofits that ensure that our planet and future generations thrive.
As keen cyclists ourselves, we want to show dedication and respect for the environment we ride in and help the global community to share in the benefits, opportunities and freedoms that riding a bicycle can bring. Standing strongly by these values, our first year of membership has seen us support and continuing to support two charities, namely Action For Conservation and Outride.
Action For Conservation
In a two-part feature, this first entry will highlight the initiatives of UK-based grassroots charity Action For Conservation (AFC). The charity was born after founder Hendrikus van Hensbergen realised the importance of inspiring young people to protect the natural world.
Vicky Trigle, who works at the charity, explains: “We are a young grassroots charity working to inspire and empower young people from diverse backgrounds to become the next generation of environmental leaders. We believe a passion for nature can flow through anyone’s life, whatever their day job. By working with people from an early age, we want to inspire a long-term belief in the wonder of the natural world, which will shape their dreams and actions however their life turns out.”
Starting off strong this year, the Programmes Team have been getting into schools, delivering presentations and working closely with young people to deliver environmentally-positive projects in their school and local communities.
Some of the latest initiatives they have been working on, as Vicky explains, are:
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As part of our WildED secondary school programme, students from Luton High School teamed up with the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire Wildlife Trust to plant over 130 trees on Stopsley Common in Luton. Moreover, 45 community members, including two individuals from the Penpont Youth Leadership Group (our youth-led nature restoration initiative), gathered at the Penpont Estate in the Brecon Beacons National Park this February to plant over 3,000 hedgerow trees on the project site.
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Other student-led WildED projects have included: designing and implementing a climate and sustainability policy for their school; creating a ‘squirrel run’ around the school exterior using upcycled wood to encourage four-legged wildlife to access their sensory garden; successfully campaigning to change an entire academy group's default web browser to Ecosia (a search engine that uses ad revenue to plant trees), resulting in thousands of trees planted; carrying out beach cleans across London and the South East; creating bug hotels, bird and hedgehog boxes and planters from upcycling materials to promote wildlife; and, exploring how to make green spaces within schools more wheelchair accessible.
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The team are currently getting ready to deliver Residential Conservation Camps in the UK's national parks over summer. Camps are open to young people aged 12-16 who are based in England and Wales, and offer a life-changing opportunity to connect with nature, explore the outdoors and take part in exciting activities like stargazing, campaigning workshops and bat walks.
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Youth Ambassadors (graduates of a Residential Conservation Camp) have also been busy taking action:
One person set up and organised a gardening club with local children in inner Bristol.
Five Ambassadors from the North West planned and delivered inspirational presentations at Chester Zoo's Youth Symposium.
Several others contributed to AFC's Black History Month campaign by writing blogs and hosting Instagram Live interviews with the Bat Conservation Trust and Black Geographers.
Finally, when it comes to taking on two wheels, the AFC team are all enthusiastic cyclists. Whether that be cycling to work instead of taking public transport or driving, cycle touring or weekend riding, everyone has some connection to cycling. Vicky shares that the Programmes Team have been cycling to deliver WildED workshops where possible this year. The team are now hoping that they will all have ‘cycling desks’ by the end of the year.
Working with and supporting young people, AFC see that many are keen to implement sustainable transport initiatives in their schools and local communities, with cycling often being the preferred method. An example of this is when one of the WildED groups focused their project around sustainable transportation and cycling. For the project, they designed a system where young people could hire a bike to travel to school. The team would then also collect any unused and unwanted bikes to repair, with the goal to redistribute them in the local area. By the end of the programme, the participants had contacted the walking and cycling charity Sustrans for help and advice with their project, as well as seeking donations from local shops. Vicky shared: “Working with young people who are passionate about creating positive change for nature is so inspiring. We are thrilled to support more and more young people each year to experience hands-on conservation and make a tangible difference to their local communities.”
We look forward to continuing our support for this amazing charity this year and beyond.
You can find out more about Action for Conservation’s initiatives on their website and by following them on social media via the link below.
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Action For Conservation
@action4conserv
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