For every item purchased from Tree City Travel, an online outdoor-equipment business founded by a current Kent State student and a recent graduate, three trees are planted to battle against climate change.
One Tree Planet, a non-profit organization working in North America, Latin America, Asia and Europe, plants the trees. While this mission does take away from some of the Tree City Travels’ profits, its owners remain focused on aiding the environment with their new business.
“To us, the priority is doing something good – it’s not about making a quick buck,” said co-founder Joseph Klein, who will receive a graduate in December. “It’s just about combining our path of entrepreneurship with the outdoors. It isn’t about being able to get rich or anything like that. We’re eating a little bit of that cost just in the name of doing something good for the planet.”
Tree City Travel has been open officially since March of 2023, and they have been working on the idea since November 2021.
The business idea was developed by co-founders Jason Anzaldi, who graduated in August 2023 with a degree in business administration, and Klein. They both enjoyed distance running on trails, so they decided because of their interest in the outdoors, camping and hiking, they wanted to create an outdoor business with aspects of sustainability.
The company sells equipment such as hammocks, water bottles and glass coffee mugs. They plan to keep expanding with products such as hats, crewnecks, hoodies, camping gear and tents, Anzaldi said.
The business also wants to include a dog lifeline with collars and water bowls customers can take on the go.
As listed on its websites, hammocks cost $52.99, glass cans cost $16.99 and water bottles are $34.99.
“We have some more expensive products for sure, but most of this stuff we try to keep affordable for a college student to buy because that’s where we are in our lives,” Klein said. “We understand not everybody can drop $100 on a hammock, and not everybody can drop $70 on a water bottle, so we try to keep things a little bit more on the affordable side.”
After the purchase of an item, three trees will be planted. Tree City Travel has currently planted 1,200 trees. Its goal is to eventually plant 1 million trees.
“I think that it’s different in today’s age,” Anzaldi said. “Climate change has been a big problem for everyone. If they don’t do anything about it, it’s going to be bad for the future and generations to come. Our mission is to get people outside and learn sustainability practices. I think we can create a community that will make a difference.”
All items sold on the website have been tested for durability.
“We put them through a couple of stages to make sure they’re good products, and then we tie that into the three trees planted,” Anzaldi said.
Items can be shipped, or customers can arrange for local pickup.
In the future, Anzaldi and Klein said they want to see Tree City Travel make a difference in sustainability.
“Honestly, I just hope for growth – again, it’s not about making money,” Klein said. “For us, it’s just about making the biggest impact that we possibly can.”
Annalexis Davis is a campus editor. Contact her at [email protected].
