Photo by Roscoe Myrick
“No win, no trees” is the new motto of Arsenal’s Hector Bellerin, a footballer who has started his own unique sustainability campaign. He’s promised to plant 3,000 trees each time Arsenal wins a game this season.
The Premier League is back to business after a 100-day shutdown thanks to coronavirus, and Bellerin isn’t wasting any time. At the time of writing, Arsenal has won four games thus far, which means Bellerin has planted 12,000 trees.
Plus, after a 7th July match that ended in a draw with Leicester City, he planted 3,000 more for good measure — Arsenal put in a worthy effort, after all.
Bellerin’s trees are planted in the Amazon, an area of the world which is feeling the effects of deforestation at an alarming rate. In just a one-year period in 2018/2019, the Amazon lost almost four thousand square miles of rainforest. Let’s hope Arsenal keeps winning — because the Amazon could really use the extra help.
You can join Bellerin in saving the Amazon by donating: for every dollar donated, one tree will be planted. On his fundraiser page, he shows his support for a sustainable future, saying, “I care deeply about making a positive impact for future generations. We need healthy places to play outdoors and where biodiversity can thrive in nature. Thanks to support from the team and fans, we can plant lots of trees together!” At the time of posting, almost $20,000 of his $30,000 goal has been raised.
That’s not the only way you can help. Bellerin is working with an organisation called One Tree Planted, and you can donate apart from his campaign to offset your carbon — one easy way to make your own website (or lifestyle) more sustainable.
While you can always just randomly plant trees at your leisure in various locations around the world with One Tree Planted, consider using Tree Nation, which offers CO2 neutral packages that fits your needs. Packages guarantee to offset a fixed amount of carbon by planting a specific number of trees each month.
And if Arsenal has a losing streak, don’t fret. True environmentalists may even hope they lose, because the Amazon will still get its trees — double the amount, in fact. In response to Bellerin’s campaign, Paddy Power has announced they’ll plant 6,000 trees every time Arsenal loses. Now that is truly a win-win.
