Free-Thinking Friday: Deuxième partie

Making Detroit Beautiful

Yesterday, I looked outside my home office window and saw trucks bringing root-wrapped trees to several homes in my Historic Boston-Edison neighborhood. The City of Detroit has supplied the trees to the Greening of Detroit Neighborhood Tree Planting Project; and today, volunteers from Greening of Detroit planted the trees in front of homes which have no trees. (I didn't get a new tree because I already have a mature tree in front of my house.) Of course I ran outside to snap a couple of photos of the volunteers on my Blackberry!

Like Martha Stewart always says: "This is a GOOD thing!"

According to the Greening of Detroit website:

At The Greening of Detroit, our mission is to guide and "inspire" people throughout the community to create a greener Detroit.

The Greening of Detroit's Neighborhood Tree Plantings offer a chance for volunteers to create a positive impact for the entire community.

In groups large and small, neighbors and friends come together for the opportunity to transform a neighborhood by planting new trees. And we don't use the word "transform" lightly. Trees contribute to the image of a livable city, and to feelings of belonging and stability for its residents and visitors. Not only do trees add beauty to the neighborhood, but they provide numerous benefits to the environment, as well. New trees slow stormwater runoff, helping to prevent pollutants from reaching the Detroit River and the Great Lakes. Trees also help control air pollution and noise pollution, and help to lower energy costs in the community by providing shade in the summer and protection against cold winds in the winter. New trees can also stimulate economic development, attracting new business and tourism, making retail areas more attractive to shoppers, and increasing homeowners' property values.

For each Neighborhood Tree Planting, The Greening staff meets with community members to help select a site for the planting, develop a landscape plan, and recruit volunteers. The Greening provides on-site training and planting demonstrations for volunteers, and all the tools necessary to get the job done. Volunteers are divided into teams, and each team completes the planting - from hole digging through mulching and watering - one tree at a time.