Eco Web Hosting’s Sustainability Report for July 2020

We know people want to know what we’re doing to help the environment and increase our sustainability. And we’re happy to announce that, thanks to the 2401 trees we planted in July, we have now planted over 10,000 trees since the beginning of the year.

We could not have achieved this milestone without the help of our customers, who looked at our web hosting, managed WordPress, and VPS packages and decided they wanted a hosting company that would plant trees every month for each package purchased. Thank you to our customers, and thank you to Tree-Nation and Ecologi for providing us with the opportunities to make the world a little better each month.

A woman planting red mangroves in an estuary in Madagascar
Photo from Tree-Nation

Over 1100 Rhizophora mucronata planted in Madagascar

For all our hosting packages, we purchase trees through Tree-Nation. This month, we purchased 1074 Rhizophora mucronata, or red mangroves, for the Eden Reforestation Project.

Red mangroves (also known as loop-root or Asiatic mangroves) are smaller mangroves that grow in estuaries and coastal areas. Along with providing jobs for the people in Madagascar, they help protect young fish and other wildlife from predators as well as helping to prevent erosion of the coastline.

We also planted an additional 114 red mangroves through Ecologi, 54 of which were offsetting the carbon footprint of our employees and 60 were a thank you from Ecologi for referring other people (so thank you for signing up!)

A single mangrove seedling poking up out of the ground
Photo from Ecologi

554 Ceriops tagal planted in Madagascar

For our hosting customers, we also purchased 500 Ceriops tagal through Tree-Nation for the Eden Reforestation Project.

Also known as spurred or Indian mangroves, these 500 trees will also help prevent erosion along Madagascar’s coastline, especially in estuaries. We also received an additional 54 spurred mangroves as part of our employee offset from Ecologi.

A field of trees growing as part of the Usambara Biodiversity Conservation Project in Tanzania.
Photo from Tree-Nation

500 Croton megalocarpus planted in Tanzania

When possible, we like to spread the tree planting out across the world, and this month, we were able to give our customers 500 Croton megalocarpus, also known as Croton trees, as part of the Usambara Biodiversity Conservation project in Tanzania.

Croton trees are fast growers, drought-resistant, and termite-resistant. They’re great for building, and their nuts are now being used in the creation of biofuel. Plus, each tree offsets 400kg of CO2 in its lifetime, making it a great addition to our collection!

A Holoptelea integrifolia tree growing as part of the Trees for Slender Loris project in India.
Photo from Tree-Nation

100 Holoptelea integrifolia planted in India

We picked a new project this month from Tree-Nation, the Trees for Slender Loris project in the state of Tamil Nadu, India, and planted 100 Holoptelea integrifolia trees for our customers.

Holoptelea integrifolia is also known as the Indian elm or jungle cork tree, and is tolerant of both heat and drought, making it an ideal large tree for ecological forestry, especially when rebuilding a forest canopy to protect endangered species.

With these trees, the project will be able to protect the grey slender lorises in the area, as well as wild boar, panthers, jackals, spotted deer, porcupines, and many other species of animals.

A mangrove forest at high tide, with the water covering the roots of the trees
Photo from Ecologi

58 Avicennia marina planted in Madagascar

As Ecologi members, we not only have trees planted as part of our monthly membership, we also receive tree dividends, when the company divides excess cash into trees planted for each member. This month, we received an additional 57 Avicennia marina, or grey mangrove, to be planted in their own planting area in the north-west part of Madagascar. Plus, we received another grey mangrove in celebration of Ecologi’s one-year anniversary.

Grey mangroves are great for areas that have daily tides, especially estuaries, and continue to help stop the erosion of the Madagascan coastline.

A black mangrove tree growing in Madagascar
Photo from tree-nation

One Bruguiera gymnorrhiza planted in Madagascar

And finally, in our tree planting, we have one tree planted monthly by Tree-Nation to offset the carbon emissions of our website. This month, they planted a Bruguiera gymnorrhiza, or black mangrove, which is larger than its grey, red, or spurred cousins, and can grow up to 35 metres in height. They grow best in river estuaries, where there’s a mix of saltwater and freshwater.

A bird sitting on a branch in the Guanaré Forest Plantation project.
Photo from Ecologi

Turning cattle grazing land into sustainable forestry in Uruguay

As part of our employee offset, Ecologi is helping to fund a large reforestation project in the Cerro Largo region of Uruguay. Taking land that has been heavily grazed by cattle for over 300 years, the Guanaré Forest Plantation project will plant a range of trees that can be sustainably harvested over the next 60 years, reclaiming the land and preventing deforestation of already existing forests while also regreening the area for wildlife and providing jobs for the residents of the area.

A Hydraid BioSand Water Filter with a Haitian family in the background.
Photo from Ecologi

Delivering clean drinking water to Haiti

Ecologi is also working to provide over 2000 families with Hydraid Biosand Filters in Haiti, giving them a simple and effective household water filter. With this filter, families will no longer have to boil water for safe drinking water, cutting down on the carbon dioxide emissions associated with burning wood and the number of water-borne illnesses they suffer.

Our impact

Through these projects over the past month, we’ve reduced our carbon footprint by an additional 303 tonnes, making it over 830 tonnes from the beginning of this year. That’s the equivalent of over 2.5 square kilometres of sea ice saved!

We’ll be keeping you up to date with how we’re doing each month through our blog and our newsletter, and we hope that you’re as delighted about the numbers of trees we’ve planted and our carbon offsets as we are.