Turning Teas Into Trees! | WPF

Here at Bird & Blend, we have always aimed to create positive changes in our world and our environment, and we’ve made some great progress with this, but there is definitely more we can do! So what are our next steps?

Why Are We Partnering With WPF?

We are already proud to be using low carbon, recycled & mostly compostable consumables across all of our stores, but we still want to do more, especially when it comes to the use of takeaway cups. That’s why we’ve partnered with the World Preservation Foundation to plant a tree for every takeaway cup we sell, as well as increasing our reward to you for using your own cup - to a whopping 50p off! Want to find out more? Read on!

What Are Our Cups Made Of And Why?

Since the start, we have been using a PLA Corn Starch based cup for our iced teas, which is a material made entirely of plants, rather than oil which plastic-based cups are made from. Although these cups can be composted, it has to be done through an industrial composter.

We make every effort possible to do this, and we provide this service in most of our stores, but we are still not happy that some of our cups go into general public waste, and end up in landfills like all other plastic! However, this issue isn’t just about plastic waste.

The fact that our cups are plant-based means that, although they still contain carbon, the process to produce them (growing plants) uses a lot less than the process of extracting oil. And this is arguably just as big an issue for our planet (if not bigger) than single-use plastic waste!

Find out even more about the materials we use for our consumables here.

So How Does This Partnership Work?

For every cup that we use in any drink across our stores, we will be donating 12p to the WPF, and for each donation of 12p it will allow one tree to be planted.

Currently, WPF are planting Mangroves in Madagascar, with another 10% being agroforestry trees (species designed to provide a secure source of food, and benefit local community needs), planted throughout Haiti, Nepal, Indonesia, Mozambique or Madagascar, depending on where they are needed.

Why Mangroves?

They provide the best all-round benefit to our environment, as they have one of the highest carbon conversion rates - two to four times greater than mature tropical trees! - and contain the highest carbon density. They even help to protect coastal erosion, and help to restore the biodiversity for both land and sea, along with protecting offshore reefs!

Will These Trees Really Help?

For each tree planted from our donations, it will remove over 308kg (680lb) of CO2 from our atmosphere, with an average of 12.3kg per year!

It also provides job opportunities, with a worldwide total of 110 local people employed to help in these reforestation projects!

WPF also make every effort to ensure the forests planted become permanent and sustainable. They do this by working carefully with all levels of government to ensure the areas are protected, hiring locals to reduce poverty within the impacted communities, supplying local villagers with alternative fuel sources to help reduce (or even eliminate!) their dependence on charcoal, hiring forest guards to help protect the growing trees, and providing benefits for not only the environment, but the villagers and communities that live within these forests - helping to improve lives across the world!

Having planted over 280k trees over the last 5 years, this quarter we’ve started working with a new partner with which we’re now planting our very own Bird & Blend forest in Indonesia!

We are super pleased to announce that we have so far planted 280,583 trees!