Since our company’s inception, Kimball International has believed in being a good steward to the environment. From harvesting our own timbers for our furniture from forests we owned, and in turn planting a tree to replace each one that was removed, to bringing products to the market that are not only innovative, but sustainable. Our family of brands at Kimball International believe it’s not enough to simply sustain. We strive to enhance our world.
In past years, through the Trees for Tomorrow program, employees and sales partners received tree saplings to promote new growth. Because the pandemic has caused us to approach things differently this year, we took a new approach in how to continue to care for and protect our environment.
New Threats to America’s Forests
Unfortunately, new and existing threats are changing America’s forests rapidly. Deforestation—whether from severe wildfire like we saw this past year or suburban sprawl—and carbon emissions are two of the biggest dangers to our forests. Threats like deforestation make it harder for people and wildlife to rely on forests for their basic needs.
This year, in honor of Earth Day, we have chosen to dedicate our efforts to helping American Forests restore threatened forests by raising enough money to plant 20,000 trees in hard hit areas of the U.S.
American Forests is the oldest national nonprofit conservation organization in the United States. Since their founding in 1875, they have been the pathfinders for creating healthy forests from coast to coast. In the early 1900s, they rallied forest advocates to champion creation of the U.S. Forest Service. In 2018, they won a decade-long campaign persuading Congress to provide stable funding for preventing and fighting forest fires. Now, they are focused on building a reforestation movement in America, from cities to large, rural landscapes through their American ReLeaf program in the United States, as well as parts of Canada and Mexico. To date, they have planted 65 million trees in the last 30 years!
“We all rely on forests in order to survive and thrive, given the power they have to filter our air and water, provide jobs, mitigate climate change and more. But our forests are being degraded and destroyed at a rapid pace and large scale.”
Our Pledge
Cultivating the craft of our own brand, we recognize that we all can play a role in sustainability, and value the impact we can make by this partnership of regenerating our timberlands.
