- In a competitive market, real estate agents in Las Vegas have thought outside the box
- They plan to plant 111,111 trees, one for every property transaction this year
- Over in Adelaide, another company is helping restore wetlands to aid carbon capture
If you’re a real estate agent in a city that relies on one main industry, and that industry has fallen off a cliff, you’d expect the market to be a tough one.
Except in Las Vegas’ case, the property market has shown amazing resilience, just as the major industry in town – entertainment – has been smashed.
While hotels are laying off or standing down staff (MGM furloughed 140 managers recently, in addition to 18,000 staff last year), and airports are 60% down on volume, property prices rose strongly throughout 2020.
Some were even talking bubbles, which left some real estate agents scratching their heads as to why the market was performing so well.
One Nevada agency – Realty One – has dreamed up an interesting idea to attract business – they will plant a tree for every property transaction they make this year, with a goal of reaching 111,111.
Founded in 2005 and headquartered in Las Vegas, the agency has 11,000 staff working under the brand, working in 170 different locations, according to their LinkedIn page.
They call this the ONE Tree, ONE World program. Their own staff can also purchase or plant trees on behalf of their clients for homes bought and sold throughout the year.
South Australian wetlands
Which brings us – naturally enough – to the South Australian wetlands. (Stay with me.)
While planting trees is noble enough, and helps with the carbon capture side of saving the planet, another option is ‘blue carbon’.
This involves restoring coastal wetlands – such as mangroves – as they capture carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere. Wetlands also happen to be very good at trapping carbon in their vegetation and roots. Peatlands do the same thing.
Partnering with The Nature Conservancy, Smartgroup, a leading national provider of novated car leasing, expanded their carbon offset program in South Australia.
Dr Chris Gillies, The Nature Conservancy’s Program Director Oceans, welcomed Smartgroup’s support of this important carbon capture project.
“Smartgroup is one of the first Australian companies to invest in a blue carbon project and their support will allow us to restore a coastal wetland to become an effective carbon sink,” Dr Gillies said.
He described the potential of the Adelaide Coastal Wetlands Restoration Project as “extraordinary”.
“The restoration of a typical 360 ha coastal wetland could result in the capture of 9000 tonnes of carbon. That’s equivalent to taking 7000 cars off our roads for a year, making it an incredible opportunity to tackle climate change,” Dr Gillies said.
“Coastal wetlands can capture and store carbon at a greater rate compared to forests, and they are one of the few habitats that can continuously sequester carbon in soil for millennia.”
Property and other organisations can build these ideas into their ways of doing business, and in so doing, can sell, and do good at the same time.
