THE LEAFLET

Another year around the sun and it’s time to reflect on the great assortment of gifts that our city’s trees provide. During this holiday season, we take this opportunity to list a few of the many reasons we are thankful for our trees!

1)  Trees clean our air. Trees act like giant filters, removing pollutants and harmful emissions. The results are amazing: One large tree can absorb more than 5 pounds of smog-causing pollutants each year and intercept 3 pounds of small particulate matter! Is there a better gift than breathing clean air?

2)  Trees keep us healthy. Trees help reduce stress, help with emotional issues, such as depression and anxiety, and with physical conditions, such as heart disease, cancer, asthma, and ADHD. One study found that patients who had a view of trees recovered faster and had fewer complications following surgery.

3)  Trees provide us shade. As we head into December the hot days of summer quickly fade.  But who can forget the blistering stretch of scorching summer heat we had this year? D.C. hit 90 degrees over 50 times this year!  The cooling benefits provided by trees can quite literally be a life saver.

4)  Trees reduce energy costs. Cooling shade from trees also saves us money in energy costs. Landscaping using strategically planted trees can reduce air conditioning costs, and in the winter well placed trees can act as windbreaks, reducing winter heating costs as well. That’s extra money you can happily use right now for holiday gifts.

5)  Trees are good for our economy. Trees not only beautify our communities and make us feel good, they also offer many tangible economic benefits: Trees can increase property values for homeowners and increase sales for businesses.

Help support our tree planting, education and advocacy programs today.