LINCOLN, Neb. -- Now in the second year of their reforestation partnership, the Arbor Day Foundation and office furniture company Branch planted 60,000 trees in 2021, which is more than 10,000 trees that had initially been projected.

The trees were planted in the United States and Canada, and were funded by Branch's Black Friday-Cyber Monday campaigns in 2020 and 2021, with 10 or more trees being allocated for planting for every order placed on their website.

In addition to its tree-planting efforts, Branch is working to integrate other sustainability measures into its business. The brand is currently exploring how to bring responsibly sourced materials, recycling efforts, and buy-back programs into their business model to decrease their environmental impact. 

"We love working with partners who demonstrate an extraordinary amount of environmental care through their work," said Dan Lambe, Chief Executive of the Arbor Day Foundation. "Branch truly understands the responsibility we all have to the planet, and their support gives us the boost we need to create high-level impact in forests that are in great need of trees."

In 2020, Branch raised enough funds through its Black Friday-Cyber Monday campaign to plant 10,000 trees around Econfina Creek Water Management Areas in Florida. This year, the company was able to provide 60,000 additional trees that will go towards two reforestation projects in North Carolina and one in British Columbia, Canada.

"At Branch, we care deeply about the products we put out into the world, as well as what it takes to bring them into the world and stay in use," said Greg Hayes, CEO and co-founder of Branch. "Sustainability has been a core part of our mission since our founding, and we are so thrilled to actively take part in creating change in our environments that need it most with help from the Arbor Day Foundation team."

In Hoke County, North Carolina, the Hoke Community Forest – a forest managed by local residents, nonprofits, and county officials – is in need of longleaf pine trees to restore the area's native ecosystem. To the northeast, the Chowan Swamp Game Land is also in need of longleaf pine trees after the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission expanded the area's boundaries to include land that was formerly used for commercial timber production. Longleaf pines once dominated the Southeastern United States, but rapid deforestation has caused a massive decline in its populations, which provides habitat for many endemic wildlife species.

Up in British Columbia, Canada, the 2017 Hanceville wildfire burned approximately 590,000 acres of forest, leaving much of the area severely damaged and unable to naturally regenerate. A combination of Douglas-fir and lodgepole pine trees are needed to increase the pace of reforestation and restore the ecological benefits the surrounding communities had previously enjoyed.