Saving lives through ethical reforestation

 

How planting trees saves lives and how you can help

by | Jul 12, 2019 | Blog, Environment, Power and Energy

It is no secret that the effects of global deforestation have severely impacted our ability to recover from climate change, but there are more negative ramifications than appear on the surface. In addition to the average adult tree absorbing around 50 pounds of Carbon Dioxide a year, they also absorb other toxic airborne chemicals and particulates such as Sulfur Dioxide and Nitrogen Oxides, coming primarily from coal burning and automotive exhaust, respectively. Further, the trees we lose from deforestation help improve soil and water quality, and provide habitats for the wildlife, fungus, and other plants native to
their ecological system.

Thanks to our partnership with international reforestation groups, we have already helped plant close to 12,000 trees thanks to our local communities businesses and citizens, due to our pledge to plant a tree for every 100 pounds of electronic waste we receive, allowing us to help fund the planting of around 500 trees a month in third world countries attempting to recover from the effects of wide-spread land clearing for farming and previous colonization.

On average, 80,000 acres of rain forest are cleared daily for agriculture. In addition to the absurd amount of land lost daily from poor agricultural practices, this destruction results in the extinction of roughly 135 species a day in the rain forest, totaling at approximately 50,000 species annually. With the rain forest holding around 50% of species for our entire planet, it is not debatable that we, as a species, need to better take care of the rain forest and assess our farming and fuel techniques or soon there won’t be much rain forest left to replant, nor will our societies be able to recover. Many common day medicines have their roots and origins in plant life, such as willow bark being a good aspirin replacement.

One acre of new-growth forest, like the ones we help plant, absorbs about 2.5 tons of Carbon Dioxide annually, along with creating oxygen and helping to purify water by pulling it up from the ground (along with soil and water pollutants), and releasing it back into the water-cycle as purified water when it evaporates out of the tree’s leaves. When a tree reaches 10 years old, not only does it absorb close to 50pounds of Carbon Dioxide a year, it will have absorbed around 1,000 pounds of Carbon Dioxide and it produces enough oxygen to support two human beings.

By continuing to plant trees, we can begin to overturn the effects of climate change and global
deforestation, and we cannot succeed without the help of those who choose to use us at GreenTree Electronic Recycling as their e-waste and ITAD team. We are very grateful for those who have used us in the past and our dedicated family is committed to bringing you the best service possible for responsible e-waste recycling, data destruction, and refurbishment.

You can learn more about our primary partner, the Eden Reforestation project, at this address:
edenprojects.org

Sources:
projects.ncsu.edu
urbanforestrynetwork.org
scientificamerican