Newsletter June 2021
As some of you already know, June 5th is World Environment Day. It is the main event of the UN since 1972 and its goal is to inform the public about the environmental problems that humanity is facing. The theme for 2021 is: “Think again. Recreate. Restore.” and refers to the restoration of ecosystems. This year’s World Environment Day marked the beginning of the UN campaign “Decade for the Restoration of Ecosystems (2021-2030)”.
We must not forget that:
• Every three seconds, the planet loses a forest area that corresponds to a football field.
• More than 47 million acres of forest – an area larger than Denmark – are lost each year.
• Almost 80% of the world’s wastewater is discarded untreated into oceans and rivers.
• Wetlands drained for the benefit of agriculture are down 50% from the last century and about 87% over the last 300 years.
• Peatlands are vital ecosystems. Although they cover only 3% of the earth, they store almost 30% of carbon dioxide.
• 50% of coral reefs have already been lost and by 2050 90% may be lost, even if global warming is limited to an increase of 1.5 ° C.
As KUKUZI we respect the environment and develop better production methods for our products, which do not burden the ecosystem. More specifically, we follow all the practices of organic cultivation for our olive trees, and with proper pruning we try to have healthy productive trees which give every year excellent quality olive fruits. We monitor the irrigation of the trees, we do not use pesticides which are harmful to the ecosystem and we collect the olives by hand, something that does not damage the trees. We are constantly planting new trees and taking care of their proper growth in order for them to be soon fruitful. In general, we follow the slogan “More quality -and not necessarily quantity”. This is evidenced by the fact that during our years of oil production, our trees were not affected by diseases and always bore healthy fruit.
As for our production methods, our goal was to produce our olive oil only in two-phase cold pressed olive mills. The olive mills that were used (and are still in use today in Greece) were mainly three-phase, which means that they produced both solid and liquid waste, which is destructive for the environment. Due to indifference and lack of infrastructure, the liquid waste is discharged freely into the environment, creating pollution. Our goal still is to inform the other local producers about the environmental impact and to encourage them to use only the latest technology two-phase olive oil mills. We are also working in collaboration with agencies to create solid waste treatment plants for the mills, which could possibly be used as fuel for the needs of the mills. (energy autonomous bioclimatic olive mills).
As for packaging, our goal is to reduce year by year the use of disposable plastic. We have managed to use mainly recyclable materials (glass, paper and metal), we only use paper and recycled cotton bags and our goal is to find every year new sustainable ecological solutions for our packaging. It is the duty of all of us to respect the environment and with your support we make it happen.
Our delicious mountain tea is out of stock! Thank you very much for your love and support and we promise you that very soon we will have the new production available! If you have not already done so, you should try our amazing aromatic salt infused with four typical Greek herbs (oregano, basil, rosemary and fennel) in order to create dishes of unbeatable taste! In combination with our delicious oregano and the premium quality extra virgin olive oil, the result is guaranteed!
Happy summer holidays, stay healthy!
With love,
the KUKUZI team