Posted by Tori Wilkes on 25th May 2023
OLPRO awarded B-Corp certification
We are so excited to announce that we are now a B-corp-certified organisation! After years of hard work to create a brand that puts people and the planet first, we are so honoured to be awarded this certification. In this blog, we are going to be talking about some of the top factors that helped secure our certification.
Tree Planting:
One of the main factors that we are conscious of is reducing our carbon footprint and helping stop deforestation. We've done this by working with Ecologi, to plant a tree for every OLPRO Tent, Awning and Backpack sold on our website. So far we have planted a total of 12,362 trees and reduced 228.21 tonnes of co2 from the atmosphere. The trees have been planted across the globe, in places such as Kenya, Peru, Nicaragua and Madagascar. Our work with Ecologi has also allowed us to fund sustainability projects such as Wind power projects in Thailand, Turning local organic waste into electricity in India, Peatland restoration and conservation in Indonesia, and so much more.
Loan & Go:
At OLPRO we offer our customers a ‘loan and go’ service, which allows people to rent a tent or awning for their trips away. This service is incredibly effective as it allows people to try before they buy, giving people the option to test out whether the camping experience is for them before they take the plunge on a big purchase. It is also incredibly effective for events such as festivals, where people who don’t usually camp might want to borrow a tent for their weekend, before returning it. Not only is the Loan & Go initiative effective from a financial perspective, but it is also really beneficial for the planet as there’s much less waste from one-time use tents, and people at festivals are more inclined to pack up their tents after, rather than leaving it to be disposed of.
Take a look at our Loan and Go
Products:
We’ve got several products made from sustainable materials, which we continue to work on with the goal of developing all products out of these sorts of materials. We started a few years ago by creating a range of tableware made entirely from Rice Husk. We have now moved on to developing a new range of tents made entirely from recycled plastic materials and a new range of tent pegs made from sustainable metal and recycled plastic caps and carry boxes. We currently bottle all our chemical products in-house, with the chemicals themselves only travelling a few miles from their manufacturing warehouse to get to us.
Take a look at our sustainable product range:
Building:
We operate our warehouse and offices from an eco-building that uses solar panels for energy. This has helped us substantially reduce our emissions as a brand as the large building’s energy supply is mostly provided by these solar panels. Our offices are set in a beautiful location, surrounded by trees and fields. This is important to us as we want our staff and visitors to really get a feel for the outdoors and nature whilst they are in the building, a factor that is known to increase people’s appreciation for sustainability.
OLPRO In the community:
OLPRO over the years and to this day work very closely with the local community, most recently sponsoring the local scout’s organisations ‘shirejam’, where scouts from Hereford, Worcester, Gloucestershire, and Shropshire will come together to spend a weekend celebrating the great outdoors. OLPRO have also donated hundreds of sleeping bags to the local homeless shelter ‘St Pauls hostel’, to ensure that nobody went cold over winter. We've also donated sleeping bags to ‘the big sleep out’, an event where people slept outside in the Winter to help raise money for homeless charity ‘caring for communities and people’.
Putting customers first:
We offer a 30-day returns policy as well as our 365-day warranty. As of February 2020, we also now offer a two-year warranty for our OLPRO canvas products such as tents and campervan awnings, giving our customers the security that they are buying a high-quality product that is built to last. We also offer all of our customers free UK Standard Delivery on all orders, as well as the guarantee that products will be dispatched same day as long as orders are placed before 2 pm. We offer discount codes to those who work in the emergency services and military as a way of saying thank you for all that they do. We continue to work closely with our local community and always look for ways in which we can help and support those around us.