Checkers Tweets for trees

Checkers is urging shoppers to step up for spekboom plants (Portulacaria afra) this Arbour Week, which runs until September 7, to be planted on their behalf in underprivileged communities.

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For one hour every day, Checkers will urge its customers to tweet #CheckersTweet4Trees for these amazing eco-friendly and carbon-absorbing trees to be planted in a special schools greening project.

Every tweet will see a spekboom planted at an underprivileged school in the Western Cape. Checkers hopes to plant more than 2 000 trees with social enterprise specialists Foodpods identifying the schools involved and training the learners to plant and maintain the trees.

The initiative is intended to clean up and beautify the environment, giving schools a sense of pride while teaching young South Africans greater ecological awareness.

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Also known as the ‘elephant’s foot’, the spekboom is indigenous to SA and is increasingly planted for its ability to absorb and store carbon in the soil. The drought-resistant succulents also need very little water to thrive.

According to the Spekboom Foundation of South Africa, they are 10 times more effective at carbon fixing per hectare than any tropical rain forest. A hectare of spekboom can capture up to 4,2t of carbon a year.