Connecting with like-minded people, building relationships, exchanging ideas, and growing side by side to solve our planet's most pressing environmental problems – these are key elements of “1% for the Planet”, a global network Wildling Shoes can count itself among.
At the 1% for the Planet Global Summit, the community came together to find answers to pressing future issues.
From the Wildling Shoes Team Adelina joined the event. Here are her impression:
"The summit was the perfect canopy for that. Upon entering we were all escorted to a dreamy courtyard reception where the center stage was buzzing with speakers ready to inspire, and break the ice for all of us in the audience looking at one another and thinking, “this is the first in person event in over two years.“
Throughout the two days we attended enlightening discussions, talking about a number of brands’ sustainable and regeneration goals. We were also faced with a lot of negative information about our climate and our responsibilities – this forced us to draw inwards, reflect and talk about our inner findings together as a group. We walked away thinking we can only do this together – joining forces and tackling these very urgent issues is the future – wouldn’t you agree?
On the first day of the summit, we were honored to personally meet environmentalist and artist Pattiegonia, who talked about ways we can join together to save the earth! Involving our community, making sure we create an ecosystem that allows all beings to shine and realizing that you can have fun while making a difference in the world. Pattie Gonia’s latest project is Gear Up Give Back: a program where you can support outdoor nonprofits by donating your used outdoor gear.
The second day, Earth Guardians youth and youth leaders led a panel discussion about how climate change is affecting them. They talked about marginalized communities – and how often they get marginalized, not taken seriously or simply forgotten all together. These were very hard topics to discuss and a lot of anger and frustration was expressed. There were many questions being asked about how we can address these issues. Some answers were provided and we walked away determined to deconstruct old systems through the lense of diverse perspectives (something we keep working on).
On our last day of the summit, everyone participated in cleaning up the beach led by Surfrider LA. There were 57 people, ready to take action, and together we picked up 200 pounds of trash from Inkwell Beach in Santa Monica. Action can start small and when community is added around the action not only can we raise awareness around pressing issues such as climate change, global pandemic, systemic racism, oppression and injustice, it also changes how we relate to other human beings and the Planet we all belong to.
Thank you to the 1% for the Planet team for putting together this amazing Summit!“
Wildling Shoes and 1% for the Planet
Wildling Shoes has been part of the 1% for the Planet initiative since 2021 and within this framework supports the non-profit organization Rewilding Europe.
Yvon Chouinard and Craig Mathews are the founders of the 1% for the Planet. The founding principles behind the non-profit are simple: transparency and togetherness. Every member pledges to donate 1% of their yearly earnings to a vetted non-profit, operating under one of the following six categories: climate, food, landscape, pollution, water, and wildlife.
The 1% for the Planet is built on relationships – every member is directly connected to a non-profit so they can start to cultivate a relationship together. Wildling Shoes has been supporting the non-profit Rewilding Europe since the beginning of 2021, to pave the way for natural, diverse habitats by contributing to the regeneration of ecosystems and cultural landscapes.
Rewilding Europe is committed to the renaturation of various landscapes in Europe, restoring biodiversity to these areas, and exploring new ways for people to earn a fair living in harmony with the wilderness.
Together we contribute to the regeneration of our valuable biodiversity, because a part of our revenue goes directly to the project in the Rhodopes, Bulgaria.
For Wildling, being part of the 1% for the Planet network means a lot more than just a way to donate money to a meaningful cause - more than anything else, it’s a significant step towards making the idea of regenerative business business become reality.
Cover image: Adelina Matinca / Wildling Shoes
Image "1 % for the Planet": Sarah Pabst / Wildling Shoes
