Now imagine that a tree popped out whenever you used it.
Treespond, a campaign that allows users to sponsor the planting of a tree in response to Trump's misleading commentary about climate change, launched earlier this week. Treepex, the nonprofit behind Treespond, hopes to harness your political frustration and turn it into carbon sequestering forests.
The idea for the campaign came when Bacho Khachidze, Treepex's
cofounder, noticed how frustrated people got about climate change
deniers. "It's normal to get angry when people with power spread false
information about a problem that needs urgent attention, their words can
do real damage," he admitted, "But we wanted to provide people with
something actionable they could do that wasn't, like, screaming back."
grrrrrrr |
Grrrr! |
GRRRRR!!!! |
Each tree costs $9.99 to plant and comes with a certificate with your tree's ID number, a photograph of the tree, and its geographical location. The idea recalls the now clichéd Star Registry, that allows people to name a star in someone's name. Though stars, of course, do not come with biodegradable tags.
Each tree comes with an NFC biodegradable tag that tracks tree growth. |
Just some of the Trump quotes you can select to pay for a tree. Image: Treespond |
Though Treepex normally allows users to choose between Georgia, Africa, and the U.S. to sponsor tree planting, trees planted with Treespond are specifically planted in California, where wildfires have decimated miles of forest land. Climate scientists tie the recent proliferation of wildfires to environmental factors such as changing precipitation and soil moisture levels, both of which are linked to climate change.
Yosemite shrouded in smoke as nearby wildfire burns out of control amidst 'extreme temperatures.' ABCNEWS America |
And so, the point is not that Treespond will save our planet, rather that it is one nice thing (or ten or hundred nice things) that you can do alongside other efforts to counter the effects of pollution. Trees absorb as much as 30 percent of the planet's carbon emissions, but deforestation caused by logging, agriculture, and wildfire are shrinking this valuable resource.
Though small in nature, the gesture of planting a tree holds symbolic weight: It can represent the voice of those listening to the Earth's pain and working to heal it.
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