A unique gift idea that guarantees a better world no matter what you do

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Buying presents for people is never an easy thing. Searching the web, looking for that perfect gift, speaking to friends and family are some of the things we do in search of that elusive item.

How About a Gift that Many are Involved In and Can be Shared

Is it the right colour, will it fit, will they like it, will they appreciate it, what happens if they have one already, maybe it is too expensive ... are just some of the many questions that go through our mind.

We think of gifts as an expression of ourselves. There is a difference between a gift that is thoughtlessly purchased and a gift that is thoughtfully considered. Presenting a gift that reflects the time and effort put into it, will never go unnoticed.

The elusive gift idea

We wanted something different and thoughtful. Something that combines nature, a clean environment and zero pollution. Something that has useful by-products, is kind to our world and is healthy for us.

We wanted something that is smarter than an Apple iPhone but cheaper than a packet of beans.

We wanted something smart, yet simple, something that will create a story and maybe even an adventure.

We wanted something that will teach something new and make us a little wiser.

We wanted something that you could not throw away or forget in a draw.

We wanted something that would happen anyway, regardless of whether you wanted it to happen or not.

We chose the Moringa Oleifera. It is also known as the Miracle Tree which we thought was appropriate too.

The question now was, how do we turn this gift idea into a great present for granddad in another part of the world?

So we thought of "owning" a tree on a subscription basis, similar to a magazine subscription. But instead of receiving a magazine via the post or email, your subscription would be ownership of a Miracle Tree for up to 2 years.

How it works

Each tree costs US$1.50 per month and for this amount, we will do all of this for you:

• feed it
• water it
• care for it
• treat it when it is sick
• and, when it bears its first seeds, we will mail you the first 5

This is a present that lasts a very long time. From the seedling all the way to its first seeds is about 2 years. So a minimum purchase would be $36.00 per tree.

During this time, your Miracle Tree will be organically grown and cared for. No pesticides, no poisons and no chemical fertilisers.

At the start of the subscription, we will send you an owners certificate (we have some elephants working on the paper right now).

On the first anniversary, we will email you a progress report and a picture of what things look like as well as a few updates of what else we have been up to on the farm in the last year or so. (Here are some of the latest photos)

On the second anniversary, we will send you the first 5 seeds for you to carry on the green revolution gift idea.

What happens during the 2 years

Frankly, we put your tree to work. During the day, it will consume water and carbon dioxide and release oxygen for humans and animals to breath.

We thought that this would be a much better idea than toxic smoke and other pollutants that poisons our air, ground and oceans.

Your tree will be numbered and documented.

If you ever visit our farm, we will show you your tree. If you have time, we will also show you our whole farm of Miracle Trees. We would also like you to verify that we do not use or store chemicals on the farm.

Right now, we have about 4,000 planted trees and when the planting is complete, we will have about 10,000 altogether.

That's a lot of trees and a lot of oxygen for our little farm.

And if you are going to visit us, you may as well visit a few other places in Malawi too. This website (Malawi Tourism) shows you a little of what there is to offer.

You can be part of our family tree

At first we thought that a tree ownership subscription would be a little silly. Who would want nothing for something?

After thinking about it, we realised that it was definitely not "nothing".

Most websites are full of products that don't care for our world, contain toxic ingredients, are poor quality, are expensive and teach us absolutely nothing. Most times we use it for a while and then forget about it.

Why would a tree be any different?

But then we thought a little deeper. We thought about people all over the world that want to contribute to a cleaner world but don't have the time or means to do something about it.

We thought about people that want to send a message, no matter how small, that our world is precious and can be easily broken by people that don't care for it.

We thought about people living far away that we are unable to visit as much as we would like to but would like to let them know that they are always in our thoughts.

We thought about people that care for their future and the future of younger generations.

We thought about people that may want an interest in a project in another part of the world.

We thought about people that are concerned about their carbon footprint and feel that more trees need to be planted to offset their green house gasses.

We thought that you may be one of these people ... someone that does things a little differently.

A sustainable gift idea

When we've purchased gifts in the past, we never really considered where they came from or how they are made.

• were the working conditions safe
• were the workers paid properly and fairly
• was all the waste (toxic or not) safely disposed
• was the product safe and kind to the environment
• was the product safe for us and future generations

Go with Paypal

These are simple questions that are important for humans and the world. They are becoming more important as we start to witness the effects of climate change due to green house gas build up caused, mostly, by human pollution.

We see wars in countries that have oil. Due to the petrochemical dependence that humans have created for themselves, oil is an important building block in present day human society because many of the products that we use today, originate from oil.

From hazards like environmental pollution and consumer product toxins, we see increasing rates of cancer because peoples bodies are becoming too sick to fight off cancer cells.

Visit us or stay in touch using the internet

Wherever you may be in the world, this gift idea will also put a challenge in front of you or whoever you give this gift to, that one day, you will come visit us on our farm in Malawi and have the opportunity to water and see your own tree yourself.

Thanks to the internet, if you can't visit us, you can always stay updated through our website.

We started our tree project beginning of 2012 and have so far planted about 4,000 trees.

Many visitors have said that it's a great project and also mentioned that they would liked to have the time to do something similar. It was comments like these that got us thinking on ideas on how to get other people involved without having to be "hands on"

Why is this tree a unique gift idea

Not only does this tree make oxygen for us to breath, but it also:

• makes an edible oil, used as a skin moisturiser, used as a natural mechanical lubricant (Ben oil) and used as a burning fuel
• the pressed cake from the seeds can be used to clear tepid water, as a compost and also as an ingredient in animal feed
• the young seeds (when they are still soft) can be cooked or eaten raw like ordinary peas
• the leaves are highly nutritious that humans and animals can eat
• parts of the root can be used as a ginger equivalent

You can even make ice cream using the leaves.

This is not any old gift idea

It is poverty and greed that is the essence of conflict and wars. Giving money to aid organisations does not much more than treat the symptoms. But by treating the cause, we can avoid poverty and greed.

Creating a transparently run business and employing people, in a poor country like Malawi, keeps poverty and greed out of their lives and creates an opportunity to make themselves better through education.

Every day 32,300 hectares of trees are lost in the world. Malawi has land that can be used to offset this loss and is offering this gift idea to you to get involved by buying trees as gifts.

$36.00 over 2 years works out to $18.00 per year - not bad for a 2 year gift idea that delivers such a positive impact that provides $193,250 of value.

These are some of the products that the Miracle Tree compares to.

And it is not all work ... here is the ice cream.

What is the rest of the world doing

World Environment Day (5 June) was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1972 and its commemoration is entrusted to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) that was created on the same day.

World Environment Day includes parades, green concerts, essay competitions in schools, recycling, clean up campaigns and tree planting, with tree planting being one of the most often occurring activities.

In 2007, a year of “planetary emergency”, when global warming was widely recognized as the defining issue of our era, the Billion Tree Campaign came to symbolize the readiness of people everywhere to work to protect our climate and collective home.

Download this booklet (7.8 Mb) and see the power of voluntary action in the Billion Tree Campaign.

What are you doing about it

Be part of the change and spend your money on sustainable products that are kind and healthy to you and our world.

Clicking the "Add to Cart" will take you to a page that looks like the image below. Confirm your details (or subscribe to Paypal) and you are on your way. Paypal and all your information is 100% secure.

As always ... we welcome anything you have to add.

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