By 2025, 100 million trees will be planted in line with these efforts.
Early last year, before even the pandemic ravaged the world, Mastercard launched an ambitious goal for sustainability.
Called the Priceless Planet Coalition, the effort pledged the planting of 100 million trees by 2025. These trees are being planted by global environmental organizations Conservation International and World Resources Institute, with initial focus to restore landscapes in Kenya, Brazi, and Australia.
“Why do we do this kind of work? It’s because we know we succeed when the world succeeds,” says Michael Miebach, Mastercard CEO, says in the company’s CSR page. The effort currently has about 60 partners working together around the world.
“Added to that, we know inclusion and diversity are major strengths of our business,” he continues. “Those principles are opportunities to drive impact and will continue to guide us as we keep raising the bar for ourselves in building an inclusive, sustainable digital economy.”
In Brazil, the Coalition has already planted two million trees to help avoid the catastrophic collapse of the Amazon Rainforest. Down Under, around 500,000 trees have already been planted to restore the damage inflicted by bushfires. In Kenya, around 1.2 million trees are already in the soil.
Sustainable shopping
It is not surprising then that Mastercard is also involved in a new credit card that would catch the attention of those who have a mind for the environment. It is the only card of its kind in Southeast Asia.
The new Zalora credit card, which is a partnership between the shopping portal, Mastercard, and RCBC Bankard, is made of a sustainable material. This can prove pivotal as plastic remains a cumbersome problem that is hard to solve.
This card is made from PLA (Poly Lactic Acid), which is a bio-sourced material made from field corns. It has no impact on human food supply because it’s the same sweet corn that is made for eating.
The protein within the corn still goes to animal feeding, while the starch is transformed into PLA resin for industrial use. PLA is a sustainable plastic substitute that is widely used, from food packaging to tableware to 3D printing.
Apart from being friendlier to the environment, it rewards its users more for virtual activity than shopping in physical stores.
Those acquiring the card get a welcome gift worth P5,000 shopping credits, which can be used on the Zalora online platform. It comes with a free Zalora Now subscription for unlimited free shipping nationwide with no minimum spend for 365 days, and renewable with a minimum annual card spend.
The credit card has a six-percent Zalora Cashback for every item purchase made on the ZALORA platform. It also offers a two-percent Zalora Cashback for all online purchases made on other websites and apps.
For more on Mastercard’s sustainability efforts, please visit Mastercard.com. For more on the Zalora credit card, visit Zalora.com.
Photo from @pricelessplanetcoalition on IG
