OFFSETTING AIR TRAVEL CARBON ONE TREE AT A TIME

Raymond McLennan lives in Scotland. And he is seriously remarkable! He even has a Visa card with the name REMARKABLE SCOT emblazoned on it.

He owns several successful ‘niche’ businesses in the UK. And he traces that back to 1999 when his accountant invited him to attend a ‘boot camp’ where the guest speaker was B1G1 Chairman, Paul Dunn. Raymond was impressed, and for over a decade has been following Paul by buying his books and generally keeping in touch.

That ‘keeping in touch’ led to Raymond being in the audience of Paul’s INSPIRE! program a dozen years later, in November of 2011, in Glasgow. When Paul talked about Buy1GIVE1 in that program, Raymond loved the concept. “I decided straight away to join B1G1,” he told us.

One of the first businesses in Raymond McLennan’s group to participate was Morningside Travel in Edinburgh, a small independent travel agency specialising in bespoke travel to the four corners of the globe.

“At Morningside Travel, Jane, Helen and Mark offer tailor-made holidays,” Raymond told us. “Each of them has spent thousands of travel hours visiting and staying in the hotels and resorts they recommend.”

Morningside Travel found B1G1 a good fit for their long-term plans. “It allows us to offset air travel carbon by growing trees and saving rainforest,” Agency Manager Jane Barker says, “and now it’s grown exponentially into other areas such as education and health. B1G1 has inspired and motivated our team and our customers.”‘

In just a few months they’ve planted trees to nurture the environment while maintaining and protecting others. Their travellers have also given thousands of people access to clean water for a day, and improved personal hygiene for hundreds of other people around the globe.

Corporately, Mr. McLennan’s companies are building up their giving profile through B1G1, and they plan to officially release it to the public this spring.

"I also own a law firm and have used B1G1 to give certificates to people attending seminars, and that has had the greatest impact," he told us. "Without even 'selling' B1G1, people always come up to me and ask what it's all about."