By Andy Meeks

We need to do everything we possibly can — right now — to help combat climate change. No single effort is going to fix the Earth’s rapidly-deteriorating natural resources and systems, but every little bit matters. By starting small, thinking big and acting now, we can make a difference. That’s how Friends of Trees views its work, by planting and caring for trees every weekend from October – May, year after year, for more than 25 years. Since 1989, Friends of Trees and tens of thousands of volunteers have helped combat climate change on a regional and global scale by planting more than 500,000 trees and native shrubs in Pacific Northwest communities.

While the immediate impact of this work is hard to measure, it is becoming common knowledge that planting trees is one of the most cost-effective ways to combat climate change. In fact, Oxford University researchers released a report this February that concluded that planting trees should be included as one of the primary tools to help offset climate change. The Atlantic magazine, discussing this report, said that planting trees where there weren’t any trees before will “help the atmosphere no matter what, they’re comparatively low-cost, and they carry little additional risk.”

Earth Day is this Wednesday, April 22nd and it’s the 45th Anniversary of the very first Earth Day — originally conceived as an environmental teach-in day and when 20 million Americans stepped “into the spring sunshine for peaceful demonstrations in favor of environmental reform.” This was a heady time in the United States for the environmental movement; within the next 6 years that followed, landmark environmental protection laws such as the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, Endangered Species Act, Toxic Substances Control Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act were enacted. In 1990, one year after Friends of Trees was founded, “Earth Day went global, mobilizing 200 million people in 141 countries and lifting environmental issues onto the world stage. Earth Day 1990 gave a huge boost to recycling efforts worldwide and helped pave the way for the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.”

Even if you celebrate the natural world every day, Earth Day, or even Earth Week, offers everyone an opportunity to boost and re-commit their support for environmental causes. Celebrate Earth Day and Earth Week by supporting Friends of Trees:

• Consider making a donation to Friends of Trees. We are a member-based organization and our work is funded by supporters like you. Just last weekend, we distributed almost 1,000 young fruit trees to residents in the Portland-Vancouver metro region during our annual Fruit Tree Giveaway when we raised over $6,000 from voluntary donations for each tree.
• Support the dozens of local businesses who pledge their support to help Friends of Trees do the work we do. Our Friends of Trees Days campaign engages with businesses who are doing their part to help support Friends of Trees through various promotions over the course of this week or this month.
• Learn more HERE about all of the different ways you can volunteer with us throughout the year — we have a professional staff waiting to find out how you are most excited to get involved.

Whatever your view of our current state of affairs, one thing is sure: planting trees makes a big difference. Thank you for your support!

– Andy Meeks is the Development Manager with Friends of Trees.