Tree Hugger Day October 17, 2009

Beyond Tree Hugger Day

Planting and caring for trees is a great next step beyond Tree Hugging. Plant a tree in your yard or community and care for it as it grows. It will give you shade, clean your air and water, and add to the beauty of your neighborhood. Visit American Forests for more information.

No place for a tree? Maybe planting your own tree isn’t for you this year. But don’t worry – you can still join in the effort to keep our planet green.

Support Tree Planting

You can plant trees online with American Forests. It’s easy, and every $1 plants a tree. Choose a specific campaign for your donation, such as Wildfire ReLeaf, or make a general donation and your trees will go to any of our ecosystem restoration projects around the world. Planting trees online is also a great way to remember friends and family during the holidays.

Global ReLeaf and other American Forests projects have planted 1 million trees with IKEA, and more than 28 million trees total in over 500 projects across the United States and internationally. Current Global ReLeaf International projects are helping to reforest the tree canopy of the Monarch Butterfly in Mexico and restore a degraded community forest in Cameroon.

With IKEA

You can also donate to plant trees at participating IKEA stores. At checkout, simply say yes if you would like to donate a dollar to American Forests, and a tree will be planted on your behalf. It’s that easy!

On Facebook

Are you on Facebook? So are we! Join our cause, and you can plant trees with American Forests through your Facebook profile. Plant trees for your friends, on holidays, or for a special occasion.

Workplace Giving

You can also plant trees through a single payroll deduction through Earth Share, which manages environmental giving campaigns in workplaces for environmental and conservation charities. Look into forming a relationship between your company and American Forests, or donate directly as a federal employee. Our Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) number is 10632.

Volunteer

Getting involved with your local tree-planting group is a great way to continue supporting the ideals of conservation and environmentalism. Visit the website of the Alliance for Community Trees to locate a tree planting organization in your area.

Living Green

By living a greener lifestyle, you can make a real difference to the environment. There are so many ways to go green: cut back on waste, used recycled or sustainable products, plant trees around your house to cut down on your electric bill, and any number of things.




Donate

Supporting a conservation organization financially is just as important and effective as donating your time to its projects. Without donors, organizations like American Forests wouldn’t be able to accomplish all the great things they do. American Forests has planted more than 28 million trees to restore forest ecosystems around the world, and has a goal of 100 million by the year 2020. When every $1 plants a tree, anyone can afford to help out. Visit www.americanforests.org to learn about the different ways you can donate, and the many perks of membership.

Tree Facts

Trees Capture Greenhouse Gases

Forests are the largest forms of carbon storage, or sinks, in the United States.

Carbon sequestration by plants offsets 15% of the total U.S. carbon dioxide emissions from transportation and energy use.

Deforestation accounts for up to 25% of global emissions of heat-trapping gases.

One tree absorbs carbon dioxide at the rate of about 48 pounds per year.

Trees Improve Air Quality

In 2006, urban trees in the US absorbed an estimated 1.6 billion pounds of the dangerous pollutants Ozone, PM10 , NO2, SO2, and CO.

Trees Save Energy

The cooling effect of a young, healthy tree is equivalent to 10 room-size air conditioners operating 20 hours a day.

Trees Improve Water Quality

Trees reduce storm water flows, and help provide reliable water supplies.

Trees act as natural pollution filters; their canopies, trunks, roots, and surrounding soils filter pollution flowing into streams and drinking water supplies.

Over half the nation’s drinking water originates in forests.

One 12-inch diameter tree can produce:

• 454.5 pounds of paper
• 364 copies of the National Geographic
• 2,500 toothpicks

Trees Are Healthy

For adults, views of vegetation can reduce stress, improve recovery from surgery, and even reduce aggression. Children who play in green spaces display a lower incidence of ADHD symptoms and demonstrate improved academic performance.

Shoppers in tree lined shopping districts tend to spend 12% more than shoppers in traditional urban settings.

Bonus facts

More than 1,000 different varieties of cherry tree grow in the United States, almost all of them blossoming over a three-week period each spring. Only about ten of these are grown commercially for their fruit. Each tree produces about 7,000 cherries.

Forests planted by American Forests provide habitat for a variety of rare and endangered species including the Spotted Owl (CA), River Otters (IL), the Northern Flying Squirrel (WV), the Siberian Tiger (Russia), the Bard Owl (NJ), Bald Eagles (FL), and the Monarch Butterfly (Mexico).