Painting The
World With Trees
by Sara Kidd
Picture two Brownie Girl Scouts in uniform. One is holding a
small tree, a two-year-old seedling, and the other is trying valiantly to dig a hole for
the tree to live in. She can't quite make a dent in the hard clay soil of the old strip
mine land, so an older girl of 19 comes over to lend a hand. Between the three of them,
they plant 25 trees in an hour, two digging and one waiting patiently until it is her turn
to lovingly cover the roots with soil. It seems like slow planting, but it sure feels
satisfying when the hour is up.
I should know; I was the older girl who helped the Girl
Scouts. The three of us, and over 500 other students and adults, celebrated Arbor Day 1994
by planting 17,000 trees on an old strip-mine. Someday the once bare hillside will be
covered with trees, and children will run through trails in the woods. I feel proud to
have helped make it so.
Celebrate Trees
That day of planting was just one day during "Tree Week" in Ohio. This year,
over 500,000 students learned about the importance of trees for providing food and
shelter, for purifying the air, for animals' habitats, even for shade. Teachers took their
students outdoors to look for signs of spring and learn the difference between conifer and
deciduous trees (in other words, between evergreens and hardwoods.) Children packed
individual trees into plastic sandwich bags to take home and plant in their yards. But the
busiest place of all was the office of the American Free Tree Program, the organizers of
Tree Week.
The American Free Tree Program, AFTP, is a non-profit organization that believes the
easiest way we can help the Earth is for all of us to plant one tree every year for life.
Six years ago my dad began a project to give trees to as many people as he could. Some of
his trees went to schools, some to churches, some to farmers with extra land, some to
businesses for their employees, and some to people who simply expressed interest in trees.
Millions of Trees Planted
This year, over 900,000 "tree volunteers", like the Girl Scouts and myself,
planted more than 1.7 million trees in Ohio. Across the country, other people have liked
my dad's idea, and have started new Free Tree Programs. In six years, AFTP volunteers have
planted 4.75 million trees around the country.
In addition to planting hundreds of trees this year, I have been working at the AFTP
national headquarters in Canton, Ohio. Last year, I helped to organize Tree Week projects,
answered leaders' questions about running their tree giveaways, handled calls from all
over Ohio, and created newsletters, reports, and volunteer training manuals on the
computer.
There are many ways student volunteers can help AFTP reforest America. Most of
all, we need every person to look around their own yard, neighborhood, or city to see
where trees can be planted. We need leaders to say, "Hey, we need a Free Tree
Program here and I'm going to be the one to start it." Contact the Arbor Day
Foundation to find out when Arbor Day is celebrated in your state.
Recommended book:
The Better World Handbook: Small Changes That Make A Big Difference
by Ellis Jones, Ross Haenfler, and Brett Johnson.
Specifically designed to reach people who normally would not consider themselves activists. Directed toward those who care about creating a more just,
sustainable, and socially responsible world but don't know where to
begin. Substantially updated, this revised bestseller now contains more
recent information on global problems, more effective actions, and many
new resources.
For More Info or to Order This Book.
About The
Author
Sara Kidd was 19 and entering her sophomore year at Kent State
University, Ohio when she wrote this article. She is studying Spanish and planning to teach some day. In addition to
her work for the AFTP, she is secretary of the Vegetarian Club of Canton. If you want to
encourage tree planting in your area, please write to: Arbor Day Foundation, 100 Arbor
Ave., Nebraska City, NE 68410. 402-474-5655. Sara can be reached at: American Free Tree
Program, P.O. Box 9079, Canton, OH 44711.
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