Morvélo is a small brand but we have been increasingly worried about our impact on the environment and the sustainability of the business we are in: that of making cycle clothing. So two years ago we made a core commitment to move to the circular economy and importantly use a percentage of every sale to support environmental organisations.
This began with One Tree Planted – planting a tree for every purchase – which was a promising start. However, being an American company and the planting taking place in faraway countries it felt somewhat distant and intangible. We’re a UK business and thought we should instead be focusing our efforts on something closer to home and, especially in light of Sir David Attenborough’s recent ‘Extinction: The Facts’ program, concentrating on addressing the worrying lack of biodiversity.
We were excited to hear about Heal’s mission to raise funds to buy land in England’s lowlands enabling these swathes of land to be rewilded, thereby boosting carbon capture through natural regeneration of trees and scrubs but also supporting a diverse range of habitats and species and increasing biodiversity.
We have pledged to give £1 for every purchase made through morvelo.com, and aim to do additional fundraising efforts to support Heal on their important and urgent quest.
Heal are raising around £7m to establish their foundation project, ‘Heal South’, within two years. This will be a site with around 500 acres in a southern county, within reach of large urban populations. The faster they raise this money, the sooner nature can begin to recover. They will then have a blueprint for successive Heal sites as funds grow. Their goal is a Heal site in every English county.
For individuals, Heal is a practical way to be involved in rewilding. Involvement doesn’t just mean financial support; they are using ideas, creativity, knowledge, expertise, support and connections – all the ways that concerned people can act to make a difference. Heal 3×3 is their unique crowd-funding (donating) scheme linking people to specific 3m x 3m squares of land using the what3words system.