Click A Tree: “A full circle of education and biological benefits” in the Philippines

Since last year, ITB Asia News has partnered with Click A Tree as part of its journey to becoming carbon neutral. This year, ITB Asia News will plant an additional 1,300 trees through the organisation

Click A Tree is involved in several meaningful sustainability projects, including planting trees, collecting plastic from the sea, creating educational opportunities, promoting opportunities for women, binding CO2, protecting biodiversity, CSR and ESG projects.

ITB Asia News spoke with Chris Kaiser, Founder and CEO of Click A Tree, who described his recent experience in the Philippines witnessing the impact of Click A Tree’s tree planting and plastic collecting and recycling activities firsthand.

One of Chris’ first impressions in the Philippines was how happy everyone was with the project locally, and how they could see the direct impact on jobs, education and the environment. He described how planting mangroves helps tackle the issue of deforestation on the coast, which means protecting the land from erosion and freak waves. The mangrove roots in turn provide a habitat and protection for small fish, mussels and crabs, which Chris said were really bouncing back from previous depletion. These small fish, mussels and crabs also use the mangrove roots to hide, meaning that they are protected from bigger predators and can reach maturity and continue to expand the population. This in turn is good for birds and the overall biodiversity of the area, which of course benefits the local fishermen.

“Now the local population has more food and jobs, like planting and nursing the mangroves. They also get income if they help us to collect the plastic, which benefits the marine wildlife because there is less animal suffering from eating plastic. All of it makes a very holistic impact to the entire ecosystem, which is very, very nice to see.”

The plastic collected in the Philippines by Click A Tree partners is then sent to a recycling factory where it is turned into chairs for schools. Chris Kaiser described his impression of all these colourful recycled chairs lighting up a classroom:

“The chairs just make the room a lot brighter. I went to the one school and they showed me there was one room which still had all the old chairs and they just looked like very dull brown and the room looked a bit sad. Then you see another room with all these colourful chairs and it just looks quite happy. The colour of the chair makes a big difference. I spoke with the headmaster there and also a few of the teachers and asked for feedback. They said the kids really love it. They all now have their favourite chair.”

In addition to the colourful aspect, these plastic recycled chairs are also actually sturdier and more practical for the hot, tropical climate of the Philippines. Wooden chairs eventually rot in this climate and have to be replaced every two to three years, while, according to Chris, the recycled plastic chairs are “close to unbreakable.”

Learning about the benefits of not throwing away plastic and instead recycling and reusing it from a young age can also benefit a whole society according to Chris, as information and awareness spreads within families: “The kids go back to their parents and say, hey, parents, we don’t throw away plastic anymore. And then the kids start educating the adults. So it’s a full circle of education and biological benefits.”

Chris Kaiser emphasised that the benefits of planting trees goes beyond the direct CO2 absorption, and also creates a virtuous cycle of more jobs, greater biodiversity, and increased education.