At SLS, we're reinforcing our commitment to sustainability through our well-known “Buy One. Get One TREE” campaign, an initiative featured throughout the promotional magazines, BACK 2 BASICS and FOCUS. Designed to encourage more environmentally conscious purchasing within laboratories, the campaign links selected product purchases directly to tree planting projects through our partnership with Ecologi.
Products included within the campaign are clearly marked with the “Buy One. Get One TREE” logo inside both promotional publications.
For every qualifying product purchased, we fund the planting of a tree on behalf of the customer, helping laboratories contribute towards global environmental restoration through their everyday procurement decisions.
The initiative forms part of our wider sustainability programme, which aims to provide customers with clearer visibility into the environmental considerations surrounding laboratory products and supply chains.
Alongside the tree planting campaign, we've introduced a series of Sustainability Attributes across selected products. These attributes highlight key environmental considerations, including raw materials, manufacturing, packaging and distribution, product use, and disposal.
Rather than positioning sustainability as a separate exercise, we've integrated the campaign directly into BACK 2 BASICS and FOCUS, two of our most widely distributed promotional magazines. By embedding sustainability messaging into everyday purchasing activity, we hope to make lower-impact purchasing decisions easier and more accessible for laboratories across the UK.
Since launching the initiative, we've funded the planting of more than 8,140 trees, with an ambitious target of reaching 15,000 trees by 2030. Through our partnership with Ecologi, these contributions support a range of carefully selected environmental projects around the world, including forest restoration in Kenya, mangrove planting in Madagascar, and forest garden projects in Tanzania and Uganda. The Kenya project is particularly meaningful for SLS, as we have an established office and dedicated team based in the country.
David Zaborowski, Group Marketing Manager at SLS, commented:
“The laboratory industry uses a significant volume of consumables and equipment every day. Through campaigns like Buy One. Get One TREE, we want to make sustainability more visible and achievable within normal purchasing behaviour, without adding complexity for customers.”
The campaign reflects growing demand across the scientific sector for practical sustainability initiatives. Procurement teams and laboratory managers are increasingly considering packaging reduction, waste minimisation, supply chain transparency and environmental impact alongside traditional purchasing factors such as quality, service and price.
Importantly, the initiative keeps participation simple. Customers do not need to register separately or complete additional steps. Purchasing qualifying products within the campaign automatically contributes towards tree planting projects supported through Ecologi.
For us, Buy One. Get One TREE represents another step in aligning our commercial activity with long-term environmental responsibility. Every qualifying purchase helps laboratories contribute to environmental restoration while continuing to source the products they need to support scientific discovery.
For more information about our Sustainability Attributes programme, visit the the Sustainability Hub.