Sofology

Every tree counts – our partnership with the Woodland Trust 

>> Sally Hopson, CEO, Sofology: So, there's a lot of news in the press about the importance of tree planting. How it can make an enormous difference to the environment and to the climate challenges that we’re facing. Your role is clearly critical, therefore, in helping us improve the world that we live in.  

>> Ruth Hyde, Director of Brand and Communications, the Woodland Trust:It’s part of the solution. We all have to change the way we do things as well. But trees, we know that they’re going to make a difference. We’re talking about one and a half billion trees between now and 2050. That’s what we need to do, and it seems like a big task but if everybody does something, you know, every single tree counts and that’s where we can make a difference.  

>> Sally: I love the idea that every tree counts. You know, one tree, one person planting one tree makes a contribution, makes a difference. 

>> Ruth: It really does, and I think it’s very easy to get overwhelmed by the climate crisis and think that you can’t do anything to make a difference and I think that’s what the really critical bit is. We can all do something, and we should all do something to make a difference.  

>> Sally: There’s lots of evidence now that people expect businesses to be more than just money-making machines. That they are a key part of the infrastructure of society and have to play their part, and because we talk about everyone wants to be at home on a sofa they love, we’re thinking about home in the broader sense as in the world is our home. We all live here.  

It’s a very big agenda, making a difference, and it starts with working with our suppliers and to make sure that we have the most sustainable wood, that wherever it comes from in the world, and all the way through to working with our customers and saying, you know, we will put a bit back. As an example, sofas get wrapped in lots of plastic and cardboard, otherwise they don’t get to the customer’s house in one piece, but we can make sure that that plastic is recyclable and more importantly, we take it back and can make sure it is recycled.  

We’re working so by December 2020 we make sure 100% of our packaging will be recyclable and recycled.  

>> Ruth: It’s fantastic looking at it that way because we know that trees are part of a solution to help mitigate climate change, but if we don’t change the way we behave to start with, there’s always going to be that problem and so you’ve got to tackle it from both sides. You’ve got to do the ‘what can we do different to become more sustainable?’ and as you talk about the whole earth as being part of our home, that’s great. So, if you’ve got that, and then you’ve got the planting, and then we’re helping wildlife as well, it feels like it all connects together and it’s not just a great story, it’s a great ethic and a great way of looking at what we do.