Rasmus, Community Program Participant: The amount invested in planting trees is so small compared to how good it is for nature

3. October 2023

"The idea that with each refueling together with Alexela I make a small contribution to the Estonian forest is cool. And to be honest, I've pretty much only refueled there since joining. Just because of the principle," admits Rasmuss Rīmans, a loyal member of the Alexela community program. The man has been an Alexela client for the past five years and in the community program for just over three years.

Why trees? In addition to preserving the greenery of the house, planting trees is especially related to the well-being of the environment. An average-sized tree can remove about 600 kilograms of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere during its lifetime. In other words, trees symbolize our pure nature.

But it all works thanks to the community members who are added every day. "Such an event is actually very noble. Planting trees is a great way to help the environment and the ecosystem," says Rasmus. He himself saw the ad while filling up at Alexela and searched for more information on the Internet when he got home. After many years of participating in the program, he has recommended it to work, friends and family - hopefully some of these people have started contributing to tree planting.

He is very happy with the community program and is happy that more and more people are joining. “I remember when I started, we were still a handful. I recently checked and it already has over 50,000 members and over a million plants. Not a bad result," he says.

Even small investments have a positive impact on the environment

According to Rasmus, Estonians are aware of the topic of saving the environment, but little is invested. “Although I can see that things are slowly improving. I hope that with such small contributions, everything will change for the better, and the laziest will also start treating the environment more sparingly,» he says.

He himself actively tries to save nature. "I try to create as little waste as possible. If it still hurts to wear or use the thing, I will. Recycling has become very popular in our family. If we have to buy something, we try to choose better quality things, because then we don't waste useless energy on fixing things and we don't have to buy new ones soon. I would like to consume less plastic in the future, but it is still quite difficult at times. But I believe that with the changes in society it will also become easier," says the man.

Rasmus loves going to the forest and hopes that people will be able to enjoy such magic in the future. "It's nice to know that there are forests in Estonia where you can take a nice walk. Besides beauty, it is good health for us. The greener the environment we are in, the healthier we are. You can't breathe in these city sneakers day after day."

First goal: one thousand trees planted!

That's why Rasmus is very happy to plant his trees through Alexela's community program. His trees have so far been planted in the Western District. "The reason is simple. It is there, because at the time of entry, the fewest trees were planted there," he says. Until September, Rasmus has, so to speak, planted 742 trees on his account, and their number is growing rapidly. "Initially, it would be nice to see the first thousand, but from there we'll try to get to 10,000 someday," he promises.

Rasmus hopes that more and more people will join the Alexela community program. “Letting people know that a small donation can actually go a long way. The amount you invest in planting trees is small compared to how beneficial it is to nature. However, with sufficient information work, information also reaches people. We are used to consuming, but now it's really high time to give back a little," he says.