New tree discount starts today for Portland

The Portland City Council approved ‘Treebate‘ today, the Bureau of Environmental Services’ (BES) latest effort to entice more home owners to plant trees on their property.

Through the program, Portland residents can fill out a short form and send in their tree purchase receipt for up to $50 off a future utility bill.

Similar to the BES partnership with Friends of Trees, Treebates will count towards the city’s Grey to Green (G2G)  goals (83,000 trees in five years) and stress the importance of planting native species.

Residents who choose to purchase and plant via Friends of Trees are not eligible for the additional sewage stipend because G2G subsidies have already heavily discounted the price of their tree.

Additionally, Friends of Trees’ Neighborhood Trees Program plants street and yard trees via community plantings, using volunteers and insight from professional arborists to plant properly. This nonprofit service also includes tree storage and transport, hole digging, placing, and even mulching.

Rumor has it that Voodoo Doughnuts and Starbucks Coffee are plentiful at our gatherings, too. Check out our planting schedule here and then look over our species list–over 120 different species purchased from 12 Willamette Valley nurseries.

–Toshio Suzuki