Interview with Niki Tibble, Co-Founder at Carbon Offsetting Start-Up MoreTrees

MoreTrees is a tech-led platform that makes planting trees easy and, if you want it, automatic – allowing you to offset your carbon emissions easily.

Users can log onto the platform and plant trees by clicking, uploading a spreadsheet, or integrating with our API.

Even better, you can plant trees on behalf of others, sending them a customisable message telling them about their tree and how much CO2 you’ve offset – creating transparency.

Imagine planting a tree every time someone places an order, pays an invoice, takes a taxi, or refers a friend – and telling that person what you’ve done. Now you don’t have to imagine.

How did you come up with the idea for the company?

It was actually my co-founder who came up with the initial idea for MoreTrees. He went to a meeting and they told him they were planting a tree to offset the carbon involved in getting there.

He thought this was great, and he came to me with the idea of having a big red button in every meeting room across the world, using an API to plant a tree when it was pressed.

I hated the idea. I loved the thinking behind it but I couldn’t see the practicality of a big red button. The more we discussed it, the more we realised how challenging it was for businesses without a Chief Climate Officer to easily offset their carbon – and to do so in a way that’s transparent to customers. The idea of using tech to make it easier and to show customers what you’re doing was born.

What advice would you give to other aspiring entrepreneurs?

It’s tough but it’s worth it. We work long hours, we’ve bootstrapped, we talk about it non-stop….it’s hard work, but it’s worth every second. Keep at it and you’ll reap the rewards.