Some Londoners will be able to rhyme off a few monetary benefits of trees in their neighbourhoods.
“Trees near the house save me a bit on heating and cooling costs,” one will say.
“The big trees on my front lawn make the property worth more,” another will say.
Still others have likely memorized monetary items from a poster Reforest London distributed a month ago on the opening day of its Million Tree Challenge, when individuals, families and businesses in London were encouraged to plant - you guessed it - one million trees over the next ten years.
“Yeah, a mature tree supplies the oxygen for four people per year, or $31,500 worth over 50 years,” a quick mind will therefore add. “Yeah, I know I’m right.”
Other Londoners will be able to spell out a few environmental benefits as well. (Oh, there are more than a few!)
During a recent informative interview, Julie Ryan, Executive Director of Reforest London, a charitable non-profit organization, emphasized to me the value of trees as a carbon sink, a natural way to slow climate change.
For example, related to easing the effect of greenhouse gases, the organization’s extensive website says, “1 acre of new forest will sequester about 2.5 tons of carbon annually. Trees can absorb CO2 at the rate of 13 pounds/tree/year. Trees reach their most productive stage of carbon storage at about 10 years.” (‘Plant a Tree’ link)
And, stressing the need for more trees it adds (among other things), “In its "Reforesting the Earth" paper, the Worldwatch Institute estimated that our planet needs at least 321 million acres planted to trees just to restore and maintain the productivity of soil and water resources, meet industrial and fuel-wood needs in the third world, and annually remove from the atmosphere roughly 780 million tons of carbon as the trees grow. This 780 million tons represents the removal of about 25 percent of the 2.9 billion tons of carbon currently going into the earth's atmosphere.”
In other words, the challenge to add one million trees in ten years to our local landscape is but a starting point.
On a personal note, during a walk together on Ferguson Place yesterday - temperature-wise it was a real scorcher - grandson Ollie and I experienced another benefit of trees firsthand.
["Escape the heat islands; stroll down Ferguson Place.": photo GH]
The specific benefit is listed as #11 of 29, under the heading ‘Why Plant a Tree?’ at the aforementioned link. Those who have memorized the list already know what I’m talking about.
As a public service to others, however, I share it below:
“Shade from trees cools hot streets and parking lots. Cities are "heat islands" that are 5 - 9 degrees hotter than surrounding areas. And cities spread each year.”
Ollie and I certainly appreciated escaping the "heat island" while on Ferguson, and later on, on Elmwood Avenue.
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More to follow.
Please click here to read a bit more about trees.
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