Don’t think I’ve mentioned this here yet, but I started working for an amazing company in February called Emma. They are a permission based email marketing company based here in Nashville, and they are probably the coolest thing going. If you need a way to reach folks by email, let me know.
Anyway, Emma is sponsoring an Arbor Day campaign called “Vote For Trees.” It’s a simple concept: go to this website, and vote for trees. For every vote cast, Emma will donate a seedling to be planted, up to 5,000 trees. Plus, you can learn everything about trees that you were always afraid to ask (are they dangerous?) and learn some awesome tree facts as well (they can’t balance your checkbook).
The site is hilarious, and it’s a quick and easy way to do something good for our environment. Please take a second and click this link so you can vote! And if you’re a fellow blogger, please feel free to post about this. Let’s see how fast we can get to 5,000 trees!
PS-Be sure you get your thank you email, it’s almost the best part.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, a noble cause for sure. As always, the low road is the easiest road. I can get you 50,000 seedlings from the woods of my Cheatham County farm. Thats the easy part.
Here is where it gets dicey.
1. Who is to plant them? Metro or volunteers.
2. Is the urban landscape compatible for trees? Are they (the trees) going to get a 2 foot square hole in the curb line for planting? How many dogs are going to give it an ammonia bath daily, while no water is dispensed?
3. Who is going to nurture them for the next 5 to 10 *years* to assure that they will grow to be independent?
The strategy of throwing 5000 trees into an urban landscpe and expecting maybe 10, tops 100 to thrive is optimistic. The basis of an urban environment that is one with nature takes place with the planners, not the planters. If you go into a city plan with the intent of nothing but towers and and more towers, zero lot line structures, and no open spaces, you too will wind up with a New York City style landscape where the trees are in Central Park and any where else just a novelty.
It takes commitment.
I appreciate your comments, and perhaps I should have included this information in the original post. I guess I thought promoting a good deed was enough, but evidently not.
If you had clicked through on the links I provided, you’d see that these trees are actually being planted by an organization called Trees Water & People. They are planting seedlings in Central American countries to help combat the deforestation that is going on there. It’s a well managed and effective program, feel free to go read about it.
Obviously, the point here is to raise awareness and do a small but good thing for the environment. If you’d like to help, click the link. Trees Water & People have demonstrated the necessary commitment to run this program, so you need not worry.