Buy a shoe, plant a tree

The etnies Buy a Shoe, Plant a Tree project started in 2011 when etnies Owner and CEO, Pierre-Andre Senizergues decided to invest in the future by planting a tree in the Costa Rican rainforest for every pair of Jameson 2 Eco shoes sold. The following year, the program expanded to Brazil and the next phase of planting will take place in Africa. Thanks to the help of a partnership through Trees for the Future, the reforestation program has expanded to three continents in five years. etnies is proudly celebrating the milestone of reaching one million trees in the Buy a Shoe, Plant a Tree program.

etnies designed the Buy a Shoe, Plant a Tree project to be simple for you to get involved in international reforestation while you shop. If you choose to buy a pair of etnies shoes from our Buy a Shoe, Plant a Tree collection for men, women and kids, etnies will make a monetary donation to our not-for-profit partner, Trees for the Future, who then has their expert field representatives in São Paulo, Brazil plant your tree to ensure that it grows properly.

etnies has planted over ONE MILLION trees in the Buy a Shoe, Plant a Tree reforestation program across THREE different continents in only FIVE years. 

The reforestation project is now proudly supported by the Jameson Bloodline. For every shoe purchased within the Jameson Bloodline collection, a tree will be planted in areas of the world that desperately need the reforestation help, representing your individual contribution and commitment to the planet.  

Total Trees: 1 MILLION TREES PLANTED!

Total trees planted: 485,042

Even though we exceeded our planting goal in 2012, etnies' work in Brazil isn't done. Throughout 2013, etnies is continuing to partner with Trees for the Future with the goal of planting 200,000 more trees in São Paulo. To coincide with this expanding Brazilian forest, etnies has also expanded its Buy a Shoe, Plant a Tree collection with new styles and colors for men, women and kids, including signature colorways for Buy a Shoe, Plant a Tree project ambassadors and riders Matt "Wilko" Wilkinson and Nick Garcia. Also, our efforts have been recognized by the Surf Retailers Federation’s Australian Surf Industry Awards when we became the proud recipient of the 2013 Environment Award for our reforestation initiative. Keep checking back here for updates and progress on the project in 2013.

Total trees planted: 134,000

Over the last 500 years, Brazil's Atlantic Rainforest has been destroyed dramatically leaving only seven percent of its original cover today. Through agricultural production and urban development, millions of acres of trees have been tragically damaged, burned or cut down. etnies stepped in by expanding its Buy a Shoe, Plant a Tree project to help reverse Brazil's deforestation. Through its partnership with Trees for the Future, a leading nonprofit organization planting trees worldwide through seed distribution, agroforestry training and in-country technical assistance, etnies brought people together to make a difference in this area, one shoe and tree at a time.

etnies began working with Trees for the Future with the goal of planting 100,000 trees within the Atlantic Rainforest's state of São Paulo throughout 2012. Through its partnership with this world-changing nonprofit, etnies' Buy a Shoe, Plant a Tree project empowered and educated students and indigenous groups of Brazil on how to restore their lands with the tree cover that once filled their country. Local students and native groups of São Paulo were taught about environmental issues, how to produce tree seedlings and transplant trees. As the year went on and more consumers got involved, etnies was able to far exceed its original planting goal with a final count of 134,000 trees planted by the end of 2012.

One may seem like a small number, but in 2011, when one brand (etnies), teamed up with one tribe (the Maleku ), and one foundation (La Reserva Forest Foundation ) in Costa Rica, a country committed to sustainability, the results were incredible. To celebrate etnies' 25 year anniversary in 2011, etnies owner and CEO, Pierre-Andre Senizergues decided to look toward the future and what the NEXT 25 held. He found no better way to celebrate the future than by planting a rainforest in Costa Rica through etnies' new Buy a Shoe, Plant a Tree project. Costa Rica's pledge of carbon neutrality and natural habitat made the country an ideal partner to start off etnies' project to plant a rainforest and the etnies'Jameson 2 Eco the ideal shoe to get the community involved in reforestation. The Jameson 2 Eco shoes are created using recycled bike tires and rubber gloves in the outsoles and plastic bottles in the making of their PET shoe laces. For every pair of Jameson 2 Eco shoes sold, etnies planted one tree in what became the new rainforest.

By the end of 2011, etnies planted 35,000 trees on the Maleku reserve in northern Costa Rica. The Maleku are an indigenous tribe with a way of life that revolves around the forest, and they are rightfully known as the guardians of the forest. For more than 150 years, the Maleku have had to fight for their trees that were depleted due to cattle farming and a horrible rubber-tree war, which led to a massacre, and nearly wiped out their tribe. The United Nations sanctioned their land as a biological corridor to be restored and the international organization officially marked 2011 as the "Year of the Forest" globally. The Maleku just needed the help obtaining the trees to reach their goal of reforesting the lands they live off of. etnies was honored to be the answer to their wish for help.

Since 1989, Trees for the Future, the international agroforestry nonprofit working to "plant trees and change lives", has been improving the lives of poor rural people around the world. By teaching farmers to plant fast-growing trees, and harvest them sustainably, rural families are being provided the basic necessities they need to live – food, firewood, fodder for livestock, construction materials, and more fertile soil. Since its founding, Trees for the Future has planted more than 65 million trees worldwide. Visit http://treesforthefuture.org to learn more.

etnies' Buy a Shoe, Plant a Tree project is one step towards a greener future for parent company Sole Technology. The company's environmental commitment is a part of everything we do. It began with two simple words spoken by founder and owner Pierre-André Senizergues... GIVE BACK, and has grown into a full blown environmental revolution. Starting from the ground up, Senizergues has infused his passion for the environment to ensure that our actions convey the same commitment towards environmental responsibility. Each small step leads us closer to our ultimate goal of being the first action sports company to go carbon neutral by 2020. Learn more about how we are making that happen here: http://soletechnology.com/environment