Practising What We Preach
Our mission at Loytech has always been to build more than just solutions for loyalty technology. We want to build a ‘good’ company.
With Mór, we’ve created a platform where you can find discounts on premium experiences. We are always looking for niche brands, exciting opportunities and unique products. But we’re extra picky about which brands we welcome onboard.
We have introduced badges focusing on a wide range of our values including ‘Sustainably Made’, ‘Vegan Friendly’, ‘Female Led’, ‘POC Owned’ and ‘Fully Accessible’, among others.
Our hope is that, in highlighting these important things that are close to our own heart, it will allow people who share our ethos a chance to browse experiences they know will fit with their own beliefs.
But, it’s not about lecturing others on where they should buy from. We are also taking our own actions in order to benefit businesses that fit these badges. One example being supporting AllBright at a recent Edinburgh event as part of Journal Magazine.
And, more recently (and exhaustingly!), the team got involved in some laborious tree planting as part of a carbon offsetting exercise.
What Was Involved
We decided that, with the world’s eyes on Glasgow for the COP26 event in November, we would use the opportunity and inspiration it is giving to millions across the country to help contribute.
Our goal was to plant 500 trees in the Scottish Borders across a 0.2 hectare space (the recommendation is 2,500 per hectare). The team headed down on a chilly Wednesday morning, many aiming to plant trees for the first time. After a quick instruction, we set off.
The trees we chose to plant were Downy Birch (Betula pubescens) and Silver Birch (Betula pendula);, both gorgeous trees that are native to Scotland. Split evenly in number and dispersed in a random formation across a grid layout, we set off working at around 9am.
The plan was to aim for one tree per person every two minutes. Around one hour into the process we realised we were planting twice as quickly. Maybe it was the promise of lunch (accompanied by some gorgeous loaves from the team at Naked Sourdough), but the team were working rapidly.
When we wrapped up for lunch we only had around 30 trees left to plant, meaning the afternoon shift was a much lighter load. The team came together to get the last remaining trees planted, before choosing one to mark as their own and stopping for a quick photo.
Some of the Stats
While the inspiration for the date chosen was enhanced by COP26, the reason for choosing to partake in carbon offsetting was decided months prior. We believed it was time to practice what we preach when it comes to supporting our environment.
Inspired by many of our carbon offsetting vendors, including Exalt and Hettie, we wanted to take action to offset our own CO2 contribution. The response from the team was fantastic with everyone understanding our goals and, after a few trees were under our belt, the assignment.
There were a few stats that we kept in the back of our minds as reinforcement throughout. The first was around our email usage. As a tech business, email is one of our core forms of communication; however, many don’t realise the impact it can have. Just one email with an attachment can have the same impact as having used five plastic carrier bags.
While working from home has reduced our commuting, and we are taking steps to promote less consumption in our day-to-day lives, this was one stat that we couldn’t avoid.
Our contribution of 500 native trees helped us to offset roughly 12 tonnes of CO2, according to Encon’s calculations. While this figure is difficult to exactly source, it still helps knowing we have contributed. This amount is equivalent to around 1,101 gallons of diesel or petrol; or, in terms we are working with, offsets around 88 average-use annual email users.
Not bad for a day’s work, and we’re not done there. Keep an eye out for more of our carbon offsetting contributions in future.
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Mór is proud to work with independent brands leading the fight against climate change. Our collections include businesses marked with Sustainably Made, Carbon Offsetter, Zero Plastic, Zero Waste, Circular Economy, and Registered B-Corp. We aim to lift the lid on where we shop, increase transparency in the marketplace and help people save less while saving the planet.
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