REPORTAGE: Treedom

Since its debut, Design Italy has adopted a policy of selecting its collection based on rigorous sustainability parameters, promoting natural and recycled materials while keeping a high level of aesthetic and performance.

This attitude is reinforced not only through the release of a sustainable collection, but also through a newly signed partnership with Treedom. "Green the planet" is Treedom's motto, a company aiming to create and preserve a sustainable ecosystem to allow farmers to bear the initial costs of planting trees therefore guaranteeing revenue opportunities.

The trees are planted in agroforestry projects, highly conscious of the interactions between different species and careful about the sustainable use of land resources. Treedom also encourages people to learn more about the many varieties of trees and their properties, inviting them to gift their loved ones with a tree.

Treedom's tree-centred project has a relevant history. The Indian scientist Vandana Shiva in her book "Surviving development" (Isedi, Turin 1998), documents the environmental movement of women Cipko: "300 years ago various members of the Bishnoi community of Rajasthan, led by a woman named Amrita Devi, sacrificed their lives to save the sacred trees from being cut down by surrounding them with their arms. On the other hand, in the south of France, Dryade was recently founded by Pascale Laussel, who organizes forest walks, inviting participants to hug trees and benefit from them. The so-called "Forest baths'' were theorized by the Japanese in the 1980s.

Among the scientifically proven benefits deriving from forest baths we can find reduction of stress, blood pressure and blood sugar levels together with a somehow positive effect on memory and on the cardiovascular system.