09/12-05   -   Press releases

Ethical Amazonian Christmas Tree Gifts Make Great Late Christmas Presents

Forgotten to buy Christmas presents for friends and family? Dreading a last minute foray on to the hectic high street? At Greenmail (http://www.greenmail4me.com), anyone seeking a last minute present option can avoid the annual crush-fest in department stores and buy the ultimate, ethical Christmas gift - Amazon rainforest trees to protect the environment.

This ´go green for late Christmas presents´ idea is promoted by secure email provider, Link Information Systems, which is looking to save 1,000,000 trees before 31 December, 2005. Since launching the scheme - which encourages consumers to cut their demand for paper and save precious resources - on 29 November, the company has sold a few thousand trees through http://www.greenmail4me.com.

Amazon rainforest trees make a highly unusual but considerate gift. On the Greenmail website, the trees cost £1 each and as few as five can be bought at any time. In other words, the cost isn´t much more than a Christmas card, which actually uses up paper and therefore reduces trees. The recipient gets a certificate of ownership and can view their trees by satellite.

Paul Mustoe, CEO of Link Information Systems, comments: "The rainforest
is being chopped down so rapidly for hardwood logs and to make way for
cattle and crops that it will be gone in 15 years. Then we´ll be deprived of a quarter of our medicines, including many successful cancer drugs, 20% of our oxygen creation, and a valuable carbon sink to absorb our carbon dioxide. Buying trees in the Amazon can help slow down this detrimental process."

He adds: "The trees make ideal gifts - especially when the sender is too late to buy Christmas presents on the high street or has forgotten an important friend, family member or colleague. The trees demonstrate thought and caring but are ultra quick to buy because they´re available immediately online, with no delivery or ´snail mail´ post to worry about."

Notes for editors
For a number of years, Link Information Systems - a Bedford-based company - has specialised in making company email safe. This led to research about how to achieve savings in paper and transport cost which, in turn, benefits the environment. Link Information Systems encourages consumers to reduce their demand for trees in the rainforest. It campaigns to conserve what is left of the forest by persuading companies and consumers to buy trees to protect them from being felled.