Sustainability Conversations ... I see Trees of Green

"Whoever has learned how to listen to trees no longer wants to be a tree.
 He wants to be nothing except what he is. 

That is home. That is happiness.”
― Hermann Hesse, Bäume. Betrachtungen und Gedichte

 

 When Great Trees Fall

When great trees fall,
rocks on distant hills shudder,
lions hunker down
in tall grasses,
and even elephants
lumber after safety.

When great trees fall
in forests,
small things recoil into silence,
their senses
eroded beyond fear.

Maya Angelou

Trees for the Earth

Earth Day was first celebrated in the United States in 1970 and is organised by the Earth Day Network.  Its mission is to broaden and diversify the environmental movement worldwide and to mobilize it as the most effective vehicle to build a healthy, sustainable environment, address climate change, and protect the Earth for future generations. With this year's theme, looking forward to its 50th anniversary, it sets the goal of planting 7.8 billion trees over the next five years.

Why Trees?

Trees help combat climate change.
Trees help us breathe clean air.

Trees help us to counteract the loss of species.
Trees help communities and their Livelihoods.



Food & Trees for Africa ...

 A South African programme that greens, educates, offsets carbon emissions and transforms schools and other community centres into healthier more sustainable environments was established by FTFA. FTFA responds to applications for trees from communities living in barren, dusty townships and delivers trees with instructions on how to plant and maintain them.
Millions of trees have been distributed to schools, clinics, old age homes, hospices, police stations and other community centres, but there are calls for many more.
Contact FTFA here

There is good and bad news about trees on our planet. The good news is that there are seven times more than we thought. Scientists estimated that the world had 400 billion trees. A new study says we have three trillion trees. That's a three followed by 12 zeroes. There are over 420 trees for every person alive today. A researcher said: "It's not good news for the world or bad news that we've produced this new number."

The bad news is that the earth once had six trillion trees. Humans have cut that number in half. Europe used to be a giant forest. Now much of it is fields and cities. We are responsible for the loss of three trillion trees. Another 15 billion trees are lost each year. Scientists said this number is a lot higher than 100 years ago. The researcher warned that we must try harder to bring back healthy forests worldwide.

Good & Bad news source here

View more Grafittree here



Our Sustainability Hero of the Week is Sean Hide from the Grow Group. Sean chats to us about his passion for trees, the Million Tree Campaign and how you and I can get involved in this exciting project.

Tune in to the iStart2 Show on Thursday at 17h30.

 
Keitu Gwangwa & Pierre du Toit host the iStart2 Show on Thursdays at 17h30. Radio Today broadcasts on 1485 MW (AM) in greater Johannesburg and countrywide on ‪#‎DStv‬ audio channel 869. 

Radio Today also streams globally on www.1485.org.za. 

Something to think about ...
The Plant World generally symbolizes transformation

• Roots represent the past, and honour heritage and the Ancestors.

• Trunk represents the present and reveals the life force and creative spirit within each of us.

• Branches represent desired future goals.

• Fruit or Flowers represent attainment of goals.

Trees are regarded as the medicine people of the plant kingdom. They best represent the Warrior because trees are rooted and contained beings. They are stable yet flexible which allows them to bend in the wind but not break. Trees symbolize the process of transformation...: Roots are the past and how we honour our heritage and Ancestors; the trunk is the present; the branches are future goals.