Schooley Mitchell Launches Sustainability Initiative | Schooley Mitchell

Schooley Mitchell has planted more than 1,000 trees under an initiative aimed at planet sustainability that was launched recently. Their goal is to plant 100,000 trees over the next three years.

In an effort to include their employees, individual consulting offices throughout the United States and Canada, as well as their clients, they are planting trees in various parts of the world and pulling plastic from the oceans. The initiative will tie the sustainability activities into their business transactions with these various groups.

They plant a tree each time they sign a client, in the name of that client. They plant trees and pull a pound of plastic when they receive referrals, in the name of the referral source. When they hire a new employee, they plant a tree in the name of that employee. There are several similar trigger points that involve their Franchised offices across North America.

George Edon, owner of a Westerville consulting office with Schooley Mitchell is a part of the initiative and is involved by planting trees for each client obtained for their office.

Beth McMillan, President of Schooley Mitchell, stated, “One of our employees brought the idea to us and we were impressed with her passion for the project. We immediately identified the value we could deliver to so many people. We recognize we all have a responsibility to maintain our fragile world, and we just felt that taking on this project would be our way to help with the sustainability we need. We have dubbed the project, ‘Everyone Can Help’ and that truly is our hope, that people recognize the importance of an action so small as planting one tree and how that action can accumulate into something meaningful for our planet.”

She went on to say, “It has really brought us together as a company, to be pulling on the same rope. It surprised us how our people celebrate when we hit certain benchmarks. It’s rewarding to see the effect the project has had internally and externally.”

Schooley Mitchell has engaged a company called Ecodrive to manage the actual activities of tree planting and pulling plastic from the oceans. A by-product of the activities is the creation of new jobs in impoverished areas to execute the activities.

“There are so many benefits that have been delivered from such a simple idea. It’s very fulfilling”, said McMillan.