Croozer Blog: Sustainability

Sustainability is an integral part of Croozer’s company values. However, sustainability goes beyond the internal aspects like production, logistics and materials (economic sustainability): it is supported by the two pillars of social and environmental sustainability. We want to make an active contribution in these areas as well! This is why, together with our partner planted.green, we were in a forest area near Cologne known as the Königsforst at the end of November, planting our own company forest – because reafforestation is the most effective measure against climate change and helps future generations in the long term.

Full of enthusiasm, perfectly equipped and luckily in dry weather – at just the right time, after it had rained heavily all morning – a team of eight men and women from our office in Hürth sets out from our meeting place at the Waldcafé Steinhaus. Our climate-friendly forest ranger, Jan, meets us there and leads us to our marked out area in the forest. Manfred and Josef from Wald & Holz NRW equip us with spades and seedlings and share some interesting insights into our tree world: Although the groundwater levels have recovered somewhat after several extremely dry years, the condition of our forests is nevertheless alarming. The motto is planting forests, but not just any type of forest: mixed forests, as they normally occur in nature, are ideal here – the biodiversity meets the needs of animals, and the trees are not as susceptible to pests and disease as they are in monoculture forests. This is why, we planted a mixture of chestnut, red oak, common oak and wild cherry trees.

After a crash course in planting – e.g. how to place six trees of the same species in a circle and dig deep enough into the soil – we get to work. The ground is wonderfully easy to dig. Although we struggle with the occasional root or stone, our spirits remain high, and after approx. three hours, we have, believe it or not, managed to plant 250 trees! Our partners from planted.green are nice enough to plant the remaining 750 trees for us; in addition, wooden fences are set up to stop deer from ripping the freshly planted seedlings out of the ground. After we’re finished, our managing director Markus, proudly accepts the certificate. It was really a great day. Our team accomplished – and also learned – so much!

Our sustainability manager, Jonas, who planned the operation, comments: “Afforestation is an effective measure for combating climate change, due to the fact that, through the growth of the forest, CO2 is removed from the atmosphere. In addition, the forests here outside our front door, are also doing very poorly. This is why the sustainability team decided to support a local afforestation project. I also enjoyed the fact that we didn’t just have someone else plant the trees for us, but got out there and did the work ourselves, even learning a lot in the process – experiences like this stick with you for much longer. The aim of our Croozer mixed forest is to help counteract climate change, beautify the region and improve the condition of our forests.”

We are very proud of our small company forest and are already looking forward to watching it grow – a short bike trip for the team next summer is already on our list of ideas!