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By Sarah Goehrke
This year, we’re celebrating Earth Day by giving back to the Earth – literally.
The global manufacturing industry is a major contributor to carbon emissions today. That’s not something that can be ignored or made right by any single action, or any single company. Planting one tree doesn’t make a ton of difference.
But planting a forest does.
We’re excited to announce just that:
The Nexa3D Forest.
In partnership with ForestNation, we are launching our newest initiative rooted* in our core value of sustainability.
The first seedlings in the Nexa3D Forest are dedicated to our team. We are planting 10 trees for every currently employed Nexer. We’ve recently surpassed a growth milestone (triple digits!) and now count 107 brilliant individuals on our team. That means that our forest land in Tanzania will begin with 1,070 trees, which go into the ground later this month.
From there, we’re looking outward. Now that our forest is set up, for every 3D printer sold, we are planting trees. It will be four per system to start, and as we finalize calculations for our own emissions, we will fine tune numbers for every platform in our portfolio.
Every NXE 400 or NXE 200 sold: trees.
Every XiP sold: trees.
Every NXD 200 sold: trees.
Every QLS 820 sold: trees.
With our sales having increased 100% in the last year and more products than ever hitting the market in 2022, one thing is clear – we’re looking forward to planting a lot of trees. Fruit trees and forest trees alike will be revitalizing the land in Tanzania, absorbing CO2, creating O2, and creating jobs for the local population.
Meet ForestNation
We chose to work with ForestNation because of their vision, their values, and their experience.
The organization creates opportunities to contribute directly to reforestation in underserved areas of the world. In addition to Tanzania, where our forest is, ForestNation also plants in Haiti and Kenya.
Further fitting with our values, 80-90% of the staff employed through this project in Tanzania are women. Existing deforestation has ruined the livelihoods of many locals, ForestNation reports. Women in particular have seen limited opportunities, and adding more paid jobs that contribute to the local economy and ecosystem have significant tangible benefits.
For example, as ForestNation lays it out:
“In the Eastern and Western Usambara Mountain Ranges where we plant, heavy deforestation has ruined the livelihoods of many locals. We aim to reverse that and improve life for the surrounding communities in a number of ways:
By providing seedlings to families to plant on their farms. Once they mature, they produce a regular harvest, yielding food and potential income.
By cultivating 100 mature fruit-bearing trees, $173 of income* will result for Tanzanian growers and yield 10 tons of oxygen per year. (*estimated income based on 5 year projected data from trees planted in 2019-2020)
Creating jobs for women in Tanzania:
By closing the inequality gap by offering employment to 200 women year-round and up to 800 women seasonally.
By growing fruit trees in school backyards through our Green Schools Program, where we empower students who visit the nurseries regularly to learn about horticulture and botany. They help plant the trees that beautify their school and the food grown provides an additional source of nutrition.
By sequestering approximately 2.50 tons of CO2 per year.(per 100 mature fruit-bearing trees), you erase the CO2 footprint for 2 passengers taking a roundtrip flight from New York to Los Angeles.
By planting 10,000 trees you reforest 10 hectares of land.
By planting trees along riverbanks, which ensures a fresh water supply.
By planting varieties that yield fruit, medicine and oil.
By providing additional timber for the local wood industry to source.
By building community amongst village volunteers who foster brotherhood as they support tree planting activities and learn more about the environment.
By enhancing natural resources that help farmers produce better crops.
By inspiring tourism with greener landscapes.”
We’re proud now to see Nexa3D’s sustainability mission begin to take root* the world over.
*puns intended
[Images: ForestNation]
