River & Trail Talk

In today's blog, we are featuring one of our favourite apparel brands that also does a lot of cool things.

Let's talk about tentree.

At River & Trail, we've been selling tentree for awhile now, and for good reason. Beyond their excellent lineup of clothing, it is a brand that is true to its name by planting ten trees for each item sold. We’ll get more into that later, but first, let’s talk about the company’s beginnings.

Tentree was founded in Regina, Saskatchewan back in 2012 by young entrepreneurs and brothers, Kalen and Derrick Emsley. Their products and impact is global, but their roots have remained in Canada, now based in Vancouver, BC. They are a Canadian brand that “walks the talk”. It was founded from a passion for the environment and a history of tree planting.

Over the years, their environmental efforts have grown to seaforestation, funding beehives and more; however, planting trees is always at their foundation.

It might sound too good to be true but they really do plant trees! They’ve partnered with local non-profit organizations around the world to plant trees in Madagascar, Indonesia, Haiti, Senegal, Nepal, Canada, USA, Cambodia, Kenya, Malawi, Mexico, Peru and Brazil. The locations are selected based on environmental and economic needs of local communities. While their tree planting efforts takes them around the globe, they also plant trees close to home, in Canada, including boreal forest reforestation in Cape Breton! You can learn more about how this process works by watching this video. As of April 2025, 8,010 trees have been planted from purchases through River & Trail - which is pretty cool.

How do we know tentree is actually a good company?

It can be easy for a company to greenwash their messaging which is why third party certifications are so important. Tentree has multiple certifications to back up their sustainability and ethical claims, including Certified B Corp.

One of the main reasons we love Tentree is their use of organic or recycled materials such as TENCEL™ lyocell, organic cotton, hemp or REPREVE® recycled polyester. They utilize innovative materials such as cork tags and buttons made from coconut shells and corozo* to ensure their products are as sustainable as possible, while actively reducing waste.

So, why do we sell tentree at River & Trail?

On top of all the awesome things that tentree supports, the main reason we keep bringing tentree to River & Trail is their apparel is high quality, comfortable and it lasts very well, so customers (and us) love their clothes. Classic t-shirts, button-up shirts, sweatshirts and joggers make up the bulk of our tentree inventory, and each item is something you'd want to wear daily. Browse our current selection of tentree apparel here.

*"Corozo comes from the seed of the tagua tree. It's similar in look and feel to elephant ivory, but is biodegradable, dye-absorbant and naturally sourced."

REFERENCES:

https://blog.tentree.com/where-do-we-plant-your-trees-these-are-the-countries-where-we-plant/

https://www.tcenergy.com/stories/community/saskatchewan-brothers-clothing-company-rooted-in-passion-for-forestry/

https://www.biv.com/news/economy-law-politics/vancouver-apparel-company-plants-100-million-trees-10-years-8272687

https://impact.tentree.com/our-forests/sea-forestation 

https://blog.tentree.com/the-story-of-tentree/