United Gas & Power teams up with the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust in fight against climate change
A team from United Gas & Power spent the day working with the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust (YDMT) on their “together for trees” campaign yesterday. United Gas & Power funds the planting of a new tree in the Yorkshire Dales for every new electricity customer as a way to help offset the environmental impact of each new energy contract. Yesterday the team was out and about in Grassington working hard on maintenance work to ensure the trees were growing well.
So far to date UGP has funded the planting of over 1190 trees in the Yorkshire Dales and surrounding areas offsetting an estimated 199 tonnes of carbon. By the end of last year YDMT had managed to plant 27,508 trees, creating 19.73 hectares of new woodland.
After a half mile hike up to the site, armed with gardening gloves and a hammer the team were ready to work. UGP was joined by Leah and Lesley from YDMT who provided great knowledge about the site and work needed to be completed.
The team worked on the Bargh Wood site, which is around half a mile from Stainforth on the Ribble Way with sensational panoramic views of Pendle Hill, Pen-y-Ghent and Winskill as well as Langcliffe and Settle. The aim of the day was to ensure the tree posts were firmly rooted, the guards for the saplings were intact and any weeds were pulled out to ensure the tree was not overshadowed for sunlight and water.
The site is a native broadleaf woodland that has been planted to create a vital habitat for wildlife. 4,800 trees have been planted including Sessile Oak, Rowan, Holly, Downy Birch, Alder, Scots Pine, Quick Thorn and Willow – all ideal species for the exposed site. A wide variety of tree species is planted in order to see which grow best in these terrains, YDMT also over plant by around 20% to ensure the woodland has the best chance as not all trees manage to root and grow.
The woodland is also part of YDMT’s Plastic Free Woodlands project, supported by the European Outdoor Conservation Association, and 100 of the trees will be planted in March 2021 with alternative tree guards. Currently the tree guards are plastic but YDMT are working on a campaign to reduce the use of plastic and are experimenting with different biodegradable materials or simply not using a guard at all. However, the guards themselves are always re-used unless very severely damaged.
Joanna Czternastek, UGP’s Head of Marketing said “We’re incredibly proud of our association with the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust. Businesses have a significant role to play in the path to future net zero and as an energy company we’re in the privileged position of being able to support our customers by supplying only renewable power as well as support the YDMT with the planting of a tree in recognition of each new customer”.
United Gas & Power is a Yorkshire based commercial direct energy supplier, providing UK businesses with gas and renewable electricity. Founded in 2013, the company was recognised as one of the fastest growing UK businesses in 2019 by the Sunday Times Fast Track awards.
