If your customers are looking for a way to make a positive environmental impact, you’ll want to introduce them to tentree.
Along with Outdoor Research, tentree is the latest limited edition brand coming to SanMar. The company offers a 13-piece collection that includes t-shirts, headwear, fleece hoodies, 1/4-zips and sweats, cotton hoodies and a polo.
As to what tentree does, it’s right there in the name. For every tentree product sold, the Canadian apparel company plants 10 trees.
Over time, 10 trees for every tee, polo, hoodie or cap adds up. To date, tentree has planted more than 100 million trees around the world with a goal to plant 1 billion by 2030. Customers can see their impact, too, because every tentree piece comes with a hangtag bearing a QR code allowing ends users to register and track their tree planting efforts.
Founding Principles
Back in 2011, tentree founders Kalen Emsley and David Luba were inspired to create environmentally conscious clothing on a trip to Hawaii. They wanted to create a brand that would allow consumers to “wear their impact.”
After bringing in Kalen’s brother, Derrick, as CEO, tentree got started in a Regina, Saskatchewan, basement. It wasn’t long before others began to appreciate the company’s unique viewpoint.
In 2013, the three founders got a $100,000 investment in tentree on Dragon’s Den, Canada’s version of Shark Tank.
Earth-First Approach
It’s not just tree planting, though. All of tentree’s products are created with an Earth-first approach, meaning they’re made in fair, safe working conditions and are constructed only using sustainably-sourced and recycled materials.
For example, the company’s Organic Cotton hoodies are Cradle to Cradle Certified™ Gold, meaning they can return to the earth once people are done with them. The Space Dye Fleece lineup is constructed of 100% sustainable materials. Cork labels adorn the left hem of tentree’s polo, tees and hoodies.
The company has earned a B Corp certification, a designation celebrating tentree’s commitment to sustainability. In fact, the only multi-category apparel company that has scored higher than tentree in B Corp rankings is Patagonia. tentree is also Climate Neutral Certified and set a goal of Net Zero emissions by 2033 through the Science Based Target initiative.
tentree believes that “Big change starts small” and it’s easy to see the impact the brand is having. It’s all there in the name.
Check out the tentree collection here.