Collaboration is the key. I’m not the first to say that, by a long way. People have been singing the praises of strategic partnerships and cross sector collaboration for years, especially in the sustainable business world.

When we’re all working towards the same bloomin’ huge goal, it makes total sense to unite our efforts. For us at Do Nation, as a tiny two-man band on a mission to help make sustainability mainstream, collaboration is absolutely critical.

That’s why we’re so excited to announce a new partnership between Do Nation, Pukka Herbs and the Soil Association.

Pukka are pioneering the way as the first of our Do Action sponsors, supporting our efforts in promoting Tea time, our pledge to boil only as much water as you need.

To incentivise people to record and share their pledges, they’re teaming up with the Soil Association to introduce a novel form of ‘match funding’ action: if 3,000 people pledge to do Tea time, Pukka will support the Soil Association’s Food for Life programme to get families gardening this summer.

Pukka will help the Soil Association to create free guides, jam-packed full of hints and tips to help families discover their green fingers and enjoy growing herbs together, whether it’s in a garden, on a balcony or even a windowsill.

Why not help us to get started and make the Tea time pledge now?

We’re hoping to replicate similar partnerships across a range of our Do Actions; if you’re interested in finding out more just drop me a line.

Finally – please help us to raise more pledges through some social media loving. I’ve pasted some example posts below for you to copy & paste:

• Save time, reduce carbon, and help get families gardening – all while making a cuppa: https://www.wearedonation.com/DoActions/tea-time/ @Pukkaherbs @SAfoodforlife
• A watched kettle never boils. Especially an over filled one. Make the #TeaTime pledge with @Pukkaherbs: https://www.wearedonation.com/DoActions/tea-time @PukkaHerbs @The_DoNation @SAfoodforlife @SoilAssociation
• The more times you boil water, the less oxygen it contains. Make the perfect brew – only boil what you need, once. https://www.wearedonation.com/DoActions/tea-time/

A bit more about the partnerships:

As with any good partnership, there has to be something in it for everyone. Here’s an overview of what we’re all bringing to the table.

Pukka Herbs:

Pukka Herbs make organic teas and herbal supplements; you’ve probably spotted their pretty and colourful boxes on a shop shelf – if not already on your own.

Pukka’s vision is to inspire people to lead a more conscious life through the incredible power of plants. “Pukka” means authentic, and is at the very heart of everything they do – as demonstrated by becoming a carbon neutral B Corp; donating 1% of their turnover to the planet; sourcing fairly traded, organic herbs; and, of course, encouraging almost all their staff to make Do Nation pledges over the last six months.

However, the biggest chunk of a cup of herbal tea’s carbon footprint comes not from its sourcing, shipping, or packaging – but from the end user boiling the water to brew it. And with ⅔ of us boiling far more water than we need each time, the quickest way to reduce this is through behaviour change.

Over a million people enjoy a Pukka cuppa every day, so Pukka wanted to begin to find a way to encourage them not to over boil. Do Nation can help them do that.

Soil Association:

Soil Association is the UK charity behind Food for Life, which aims to build an ethos of healthy, tasty, and sustainable food within schools, nurseries, hospitals and care homes. The Food for Life programmes touch on all elements of the food, from where and how it is grown to how it’s cooked.

This summer, they’d really like to help more families to start gardening and growing their own herbs. Pukka can help them do that.

 

Do Nation:

We are building a movement of people taking action towards a more sustainable future.

We’ve developed an online pledge platform built on the best behavioural science, designed to help people form healthy habits for people and planet. When making a pledge, our users can choose from a menu of over 50 Do Actions. One of the most popular Do Actions is Tea time – to boil less water in your kettle.

See where this is going…?

We measure the impact of each and every pledge as they’re made, following up with users to keep them engaged and checking in on the results after two months. We now need to scale our reach and impact dramatically. We can only do this by engaging new wide audiences and giving them a strong incentive to record – and complete – their pledges.

Through Pukka’s strong brand and their partnership with Soil Association, they can help us to do that.

Through collaborations like this we all win: Pukka, Soil Association, Do Nation, our communities, and of course, the planet.