We have teamed up with charity EarthRuns to plant up to 750 trees, contributing to air quality enhancements throughout our 'Move 4 Earth' challenge.
Throughout May 2024, we participated in an exciting challenge to coincide with National Walking Month. Our 'Move 4 Earth' virtual challenge aimed for us to walk, run, cycle, or move a collective total of 6,595 miles or 16,487,500 steps, to travel through a selection of European countries known for having some of the best air quality in Europe.
National Walking Month serves as an annual reminder of the numerous benefits of walking and spending time outdoors. This month is dedicated to promoting and encouraging more walking in daily routines. Various campaigns, events, and challenges during May highlight the positive impacts of walking on physical and mental health, environmental sustainability, and community engagement. Organizations, charities, and local authorities across the nation get involved, organizing activities such as walking challenges and educational events to inspire individuals and communities.
Tom Hall, Managing Director at EarthSense, shares his enthusiasm:
"At EarthSense, we want to encourage walking and any movement that achieves the same benefits, especially since we already have many keen walkers, cyclists, and runners. Coinciding with this year’s National Walking Month, we hope the challenge will benefit our team while advocating for a cleaner, healthier environment.
Partnering with EarthRuns, we aimed to plant up to 750 trees to celebrate the milestones our staff achieved during this challenge. Our team's efforts contributed not only to their physical and mental health but also to enhancing air quality and fostering environmental sustainability by planting real trees in areas that need increased biodiversity.
The journey began at our base at Space Park Leicester, with the finish line in Switzerland. Our virtual route included ten European countries known for their excellent air quality: the UK, Switzerland, France, Lithuania, Italy, Spain, Latvia, Denmark, Hungary, and Portugal.
With our target set, hopes high, and the motivation of a small yet mighty team of air quality experts, we embarked on our challenge!
Missed It by a Mile (...or Two)
As May came to an end, we were delighted with everyone's enthusiasm and involvement. The goal was to set a difficult yet achievable target that would encourage us all to move more while contributing positively by planting trees. Although we may have been a bit ambitious, we are proud of our efforts!
Despite the incredible participation and effort from the team, we did not reach our initial target. However, our ‘Halfway Heroes’ made it all the way to Hungary, covering over halfway through this ambitious challenge with a collective distance of 3,077.84 miles or 5,288,306 steps. The true success of this challenge lies in the enthusiasm, commitment, and teamwork we've all shown. Plus, we discovered some fantastic new walking routes during what has been a very busy May for us all!
With some clever rerouting and a detour, our total distance brought us to Tbilisi, Georgia, the furthest city involved in our Net 4 Cities project. So, we ended on a high note!
To celebrate our achievements, we hosted a closing event with the team to reflect on the challenge. We also celebrated some of our top movers with special recognition certificates! Additionally, the entire team who participated received a plantable wildflower-seeded medal courtesy of EarthRuns as a reward for their efforts and support.
But Most Importantly, What About the Trees?!
We did not quite reach our stretch goal this time, but we still managed to plant an impressive 336 trees. These trees are estimated to sequester 3,360 tonnes of CO2e, the equivalent offset of 2,385.6 miles of driving, and will create oxygen for 47 people.
Fear not; we will still be planting the remaining trees! We will use our leftover trees to kick-start a partnership with EarthRuns, encouraging those interested to join the 1% Club within EarthSense.
Lucy Vizor, Senior Digital Marketing Executive at EarthSense, shared her thoughts:
“I want to thank the team once again for their incredible dedication and effort. It was fantastic to see everyone get involved and actively choose more sustainable transportation for a good cause. The seeded medals were incredibly popular, so we will definitely run something similar next year! Together, we’ve made a significant positive impact on our health and the planet.”
About EarthRuns: EarthRuns works on a simple concept – you choose a distance to race (you can run or walk, or do both!). You race it anywhere you like and at any time before the cut-off date – you just need to record it to show you’ve done it. You submit your evidence to EarthRuns and they plant the trees you’ve earned! Find out more: https://www.earthruns.com/
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