“It’s Earth day. I wonder if we can plant more trees than people for a change?” —Stanley Victor Paskavich
Happy Earth Day from Team Project Jatropha! Earth Day is a day that is celebrated to raise awareness to protect the earth and its natural resources such as air, water, soil, minerals, fuels, plants, and animals for future generations. I had the opportunity of participating in a tree-planting event at the Newark Silliman Center 2 weeks before the Earth Day, with 39 volunteers and the very hardworking Newark Parks staff members: Mr. Dan, Mr. Miguel, Mr. Gabe, and Mr. Benji. We planted a total of 12 trees. The event kickstarted with an inspiring speech from the city of Newark mayor, Mr. Mike Hannon. The event was coordinated by Urban Forest Friends, whose mission is to plant and care for trees in Fremont, Newark, and Union City in neighborhoods and in parks. The planting of trees is very beneficial to the environment as it helps in promoting carbon sequestration, a process of capturing and storing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, which in turn stabilizes carbon in solid and dissolved forms so that it doesn’t cause the atmosphere to warm, hence reducing human “carbon footprint” (Clear Center, 2019). The other advantage of tree planting is that it enhances the beauty of the city and benefits the people and the environment. Since 2020, the Urban Forest Friends organization has planted approximately 619 trees, with the help of 676 environmental-enthusiastic volunteers.
To sum up, I strongly recommend everyone to contribute at least some of their hours and get involved in city tree-planting events. Let’s remember that planting trees protects our earth, helps in reducing air pollution, cooling the city, and making the cities greener and beautiful.
Works Cited:
Home. (n.d.). https://www.urbanforestfriends.org/
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