At tentree, we plant ten trees for each item purchased. So far, we’ve planted over 35 million trees! During Green Friday 2019, you helped us plant over 800,000 trees! We even doubled the trees on Giving Tuesday to twenty trees planted for each item purchased. We’re so grateful to everyone who got involved that we will top up your contributions to 1 million trees! That’s a lot of trees, but what does 1 million more trees mean for the Earth? Let’s take a moment and visualize the impact of 1 million trees.
1 million trees = 20,000 acres of forest
The number of trees per acre of forest varies pretty widely, depending on the location of the forest, the local climate, the types of trees growing there, and so on. A managed forest in North America will have between 40 and 60 trees per acre. Assuming that the average forest worldwide contains around 50 trees per acre, 1 million trees is the same as planting 20,000 acres of forest. That’s an area of more than 15,000 football fields!
1 million trees = oxygen for 2 million people
Everyone knows that trees produce oxygen, but did you know that the average fully grown tree produces enough oxygen for you and a friend to breathe? So 1 million fully grown trees produces enough oxygen for 2 million people to breathe! That’s almost enough oxygen for the entire population of Houston, Texas.
1 million trees = vital habitat for animals
The trees we plant together provide absolutely vital habitat for animals around the world. Approximately 80% of terrestrial species rely on forests and trees for food, shelter, and other necessities. One study found that planting just one single tree in an open pasture could increase the species number of bird species in the area from basically none to 80. And that’s just one tree!
1 million trees = healthy food for communities
We plant a wide variety of trees. Among them are fruit trees. These trees are geared toward helping farmers escape poverty caused by monocrop farming and provide healthy, nutrient-dense foods to communities in need. One of the fruit trees we plant is the mango tree. A 20 year old mango tree can produce as many as 300 mangoes every year! They’re not the only type of tree we plant, but a million fruit trees definitely makes a substantial amount of food!
1 million trees = a more stable climate
Trees don’t just produce the oxygen necessary for us to breathe, but they also absorb carbon dioxide. The average fully grown tree will absorb as much as 48 pounds of carbon dioxide, which helps to stabilize our climate and reduce the impacts of climate change. 1 million trees will absorb approximately 24,000 tons of carbon dioxide each year. That’s the same as taking 6,000 cars off the road each year!
1 million trees = a cooler planet
We know that trees produce oxygen, eat carbon pollution, and provide vital habitat to animals, but trees also act like giant air conditioners. As they “exhale” carbon dioxide, they also exhale water vapor. This water vapor acts like a swamp cooler style air conditioner, helping to cool the surrounding air. One study found that neighborhoods with a heavy tree canopy reduced temperatures by as many as 9 degrees Fahrenheit.
1 million trees = 1,087 carbon neutral people
Imagine your life – your commute to work, running the air conditioner in the summer, your once a year flight for a vacation, and so on. Now picture your life 1,087 times over. That’s how much carbon dioxide 1 million fully grown trees will absorb. That breaks down to around 920 trees per person.
The average North American will need to plant 920 trees in order to offset the average carbon footprint. 46 trees will absorb 1 ton of CO2 each year, and the average North American has a carbon footprint of 20 tons. So you’ll need to plant 920 trees!
Of course, we don’t expect you to run out and plant nearly 1,000 trees right now, but you can get started with us today! We plant ten trees for each item purchased.
