We are delighted to be supporting Krystal with the marketing and communication of its inspiring 1 billion tree pledge, which the company announced on Tuesday. Initially, we will be providing Krystal with outsourced marketing, communications and creative support until COP26 draws to a close on Friday 12th November.

Not all climate commitments are made equal!

As someone who has worked in sustainability for almost 12 years now, and as the co-owner of a company which is making waves on its own regenerative business journey, I have seen a lot of climate commitments and pledges. A lot. Some average, some good, and a fair few which are just pure greenwash.

Then we were introduced to Krystal!

Krystal is an eco-friendly web hosting provider, which was established in 2002 by inspirational CEO Simon Blackler. We met Simon back in the summer in the way all good relationships have started since March 2020; over a Zoom call.

We quickly hit it off, not by waxing lyrical about web hosting or marketing, but by discussing the climate crisis and our mutual passion for using business as a force for good in the world. One Zoom call quickly turned into five, and we started exploring ways that Avery & Brown and Krystal might be able to work together in the future.

Only a week or so later, Simon told us that Krystal was gearing up to make a new climate commitment…

Protecting and planting 1 billion trees by 2030

“Surely he means a million”, I thought.

But then I remembered that Krystal had already exceeded that number. Over the summer, they became the first company to plant over 1 million trees through their Ecologi subscription. Incredible work, not least because Krystal is an SME with 60 staff. But Simon already knew this was just the tip of their tree planting iceberg.

1 billion is a truly huge number. To put it into some perspective for you, 1 million seconds is about 11 days, and 1 billion seconds is about 32 years! Yep, we checked it. That's right.

Don’t worry, you can easily be forgiven if your greenwash alarm bells have started ringing. But this hugely ambitious initiative is far from Krystal’s be all and end all. Quite the opposite in fact. Krystal genuinely exists to improve the planet. They’ve been in business since 2002 to do the right thing.

Speaking of the pledge, Simon commented:

"I founded Krystal to create a planet-positive legacy long after I’m gone. We’ve already planted over 1 million trees this year and I love the idea that they’ll help future generations in a small way. We wanted to take it one step further, so have committed to the ambitious target of 1 billion trees by 2030 to show that even an SME with 60 staff can make a difference. My hope is that Krystal inspires others to rethink what they can, and should, be doing to save our planet. The climate crisis is an ongoing catastrophe of our own making and we all have a responsibility to come together, and quickly, to set it right." - Simon Blackler

Now, that's the kind of leadership we can easily get behind.

Creatively communicating the message

So, how do you tell the world about such a bold mission, without fear of being called out for greenwash? You engage an agency like Avery & Brown, which knows what it's doing!

Alignment of values is always a great starting point too, so it’s great that we had already got to know Simon a bit before he asked us for our support on the billion trees pledge campaign. We knew he was doing this for the right reasons and, importantly, that it is only one small part of Krystal’s wider plans to give back to people and the planet.

Here’s what Simon said about engaging us.

"I came across Avery & Brown on LinkedIn and was struck by how concise and powerful their climate messaging was. Imagine my delight when I found out that not only did they care deeply about the planet, like us, but that they were a comms company and we could engage them to help share our message! Comms is one of those sacred functions within a company; you don't let just anybody talk on your behalf. So it is a sincere and heartfelt compliment when I say that I am happy to trust Avery & Brown with Krystal's voice." - Simon Blackler

Thanks for the very kind words, Simon. We are delighted to be supporting this hugely exciting pledge by making sure it is communicated creatively, effectively, and accurately.

Better business beyond the trees

To learn all about Krystal’s 1 billion tree pledge, visit their landing page here.

You’ll be able to see details about the five partner organisations (of which we are proud to be one) who will be supporting Krystal to turn their mission into a reality. Towards the bottom of the page, you’ll find the answers to over 15 FAQs, which should help to answer some of the main questions you might have.

And what about the other good stuff Krystal has already done and continues to do? Well, like I said earlier, this goes back to the very founding of the business 19 years ago and you can read more about this on their Green page here.

As the world gets ready for COP26 in Glasgow, it is so refreshing to read about Krystal’s monumental pledge. As Simon said in his quote above, it’s not just about what Krystal alone can do. If their pledge can inspire other businesses to follow suit and commit to taking some positive action - no matter how small or big to begin with - then that’s what will make a huge difference. We need collective positive impact on a massive scale. Krystal is definitely helping to facilitate that, which is wonderful to see.

The fact that we get to support them just makes it even better!

Congratulations, team Krystal - genuinely inspiring climate leadership. 🙌🏼 🌍