40 Trees for 40 Years
On the occasion of World Earth Day being marked this week; I would like to share some personal decisions that shall shape my lifestyle, career, and investment decisions which I will make in the future. On the 1st of January this year, I turned 40. Had it not been for the COVID-19 pandemic, I would most certainly have packed our family’s suitcases and gotten on a flight to my homeland, the tropical island of Mauritius, the very day the school term ended and spent my birthday with my mother, extended family, and dear friends. Alas, this was not possible, and I started thinking of ways to mark the milestone in a meaningful and therapeutic way. 2020 was a disastrous year for the world, but for Mauritius, it was one of the hardest years the country had ever seen, a real ‘Annus Horribilis’ per se. COVID-19 shut down the tourism industry that the Mauritian economy heavily relies upon and, to add insult to injury, in August 2020, the Wakashio, a Japanese cape size ship larger than the Titanic, mysteriously crashed into the coral reefs in the southeast of the island. Despite reassurances that everything was in control, the ship split into 2 after days of being battered by waves. Over 1000 tons of heavy fuel, so-called ‘Frankenstein fuel’ spilled into the pristine ocean, triggering one of the worst environmental emergencies my nation had ever faced. 2020 was also the year that I realized that humans had so far fallen short in the fight against climate change and that it is unlikely that we are going to be able to avoid the global temperatures rising over 2 degrees Celsius. One of the many catastrophic consequences would be that the shallow lying warm water coral reefs (there are also cold-water corals that live in the deep sea) will be facing mass extinction by 2050. I started reflecting on our family’s plan to return to Mauritius in the medium term and it dawned upon me that the magical landscapes that I grew up with would likely not exist anymore soon. The sea level is rising at an average of 4 mm/year in that part of the Indian Ocean and some of the catastrophic effects of extreme weather conditions such as extreme rainfall, flooding, and storm surges in the coastal areas are being felt by the coastal dwellers already. In the face of all this gloom and doom, I felt that every individual has to do significantly more to address the climate crisis and that it had to start with myself.
Being a lifelong vegetarian, in fact, I would say that I am 90% vegan, helps a lot in reducing my ecological footprint on Earth. The rest of my household is not vegetarian, but meat, fish, eggs, and dairy are consumed rarely and are usually organic and sustainably sourced products. I cycle as much as I can, in fact, I run all my errands and do the child pick up and drop off rounds using an electric tricycle, a mode of transportation that is increasing in popularity in Europe. As far as possible, I upcycle and purchase second-hand clothes which are made of natural fibres such as cotton, wool, linen, hemp, and silk. The ecological benefit of only wearing natural fabrics is that when they have turned to rags, they can be composted in the soil instead of being sent to landfills like synthetic (plastic) clothing. The future of fashion is indeed second-hand and driven by Generation Z, it is already worth $30 billion and is projected to grow 18% p.a. through to 2024 according to Jefferies. The global players in the luxury fashion market have acknowledged this trend and Vestiare Collective, Europe’s largest pre-owned resale platform for high-end second-hand clothing and accessories has secured $214 million in a fundraising round announced in March 2021, and it’s currently valued at over $1 billion. One of the investors is Kering, the luxury group owning brands such as Yves St Laurent, Gucci and Bottega Venega.
Energy is another area where we have made a conscious decision to invest in clean and renewable sources of energy to meet our day-to-day consumption. We are required to upgrade our old but functional oil central heating by law and this has provided us with an opportunity to do the ‘right’ thing and quash our dependence on burning fossil fuels for energy. We have acquired photovoltaic panels and are exploring the possibility of installing a geothermal heat pump. The combination of solar power and geothermal heat should enable our family to be self-sufficient for decades to come and maybe even enable some cryptocurrency mining;). In recent years, I have taken to gardening and apply organic permaculture principles which are friendly to pollinators such as insects and bees. All things considered, I hope that I am doing a fair share of what could be expected from an individual to contribute positively towards our environment also being cognizant of the fact that I am in a privileged position to be able to make these choices.
However, there is one area where I could still do more, where most of us could do more. Trees are the lungs of our planet, yet forests and green areas are becoming increasingly endangered, through deforestation and an increase in forest fires triggered by the extreme dry spells brought upon as a result of global warming. Hotter weather leads to new threats such as the bark beetle, which, is decimating hundreds of hectares of forest all over Europe while many tree species simply cannot adapt to the sudden long and dry spells. We saw heartbreaking examples of those dangers in 2020, with wildfires raging in Australia and California and large swaths of the tropical rainforest being cleared in Brazil and Indonesia to name just a few. And so, as my family and I watched in despair as our neighbour felled his majestic, over 100 year old German spruce trees, a perverse act, just a day after his new solar panels were installed, I decided that I needed to plant more trees. To get started, I shall plant 40 trees in 2021 and commit to planting more each year as long as I live and make provisions for the time after that as well. In order to achieve this goal, I have started filling my own garden, and have offered family, neighbours and friends the gift of a tree of their choice, ideally, these will be tree species that will be able to stand the test of time and climate. I am going about growing the trees by starting seeds wherever possible, taking cuttings, and purchasing the rest.
My attempts to acquire a small forest in the vicinity have so far failed due to the huge interest in forests for those sitting on piles of cash and looking to build an investment portfolio. A trend that will only increase in the years to come undoutedly. Should I be so lucky to own my own forest, I would plant trees that are resilient to the extreme weather conditions that are now the new normal. One of those trees is Paulownia tomentosa (Empress Tree, Kiri), originating from central and eastern China, a fast-growing deciduous tree that absorbs significantly more carbon dioxide than most other tree species as it converts more CO2 to biomass due to its rapid growth rate. Paulownia tomentosa can grow in poor soil conditions and improves soil quality. It is also interesting as an ornamental tree due to its magnificent blue lilac blooms. More importantly, from an ecological and economic viewpoint, Paulownia timber is highly valuable for construction and the furniture industry and could play an important role in replacing traditional building materials such as cement, which contributes to 5% of the global carbon dioxide emissions.
If you have made it to this point, I hope that my story inspires you to plant some trees as well. If you cannot do it yourself or do not have the resources to plant trees, you could do it for free by choosing to switch to a browser like Ecosia. Ecosia is a browser developed by a Berlin-based social enterprise that earns its revenue through advertisement clicks. Ecosia reinvests its profits by planting trees around the world through what seems to be a fairly transparent process. On average, 45 clicks are required to enable one tree to be planted. Since I started using Ecosia in January 2021, I have generated 1493 clicks, which will enable 31 additional trees to be planted. According to Ecosia, if they had the same market share as Google, they would be able to plant enough trees to take up 15% of the global carbon dioxide emissions. If you are still looking for ways to do your part in fighting global warming, switching to a browser like Ecosia is one of the easiest ways to have an impact.