In celebration of Earth Day, I noticed that while there was a strong willingness to receive a free tree in the city, much of that passion was lacking in my Indiana hometown. I want to bring the love and excitement for our planet from Chicago to Indiana to increase conservation awareness and emphasize the importance of taking action among youth.
With the goal of expanding tree distribution and conservation awareness in smaller communities, our R&S Chicago Basecamp plans to partner with non-profit Neighborhood Forest. I intend to connect with my local science teachers, ranging from Pre-K to high school, as well as my school's superintendent, to ask for approval to host an Earth Day event. This event would provide youth with the opportunity to receive a tree to plant for Earth Day!
This project went great! At the event, I distributed trees to 88 individuals in my community. After leaving the event, each participant left with a better appreciation for native tree planting, an understanding of Jane's work, and the importance of youth action.
Throughout this project, I learned to never judge the potential success of an event based on comparison. Every community has value, and every initiative has impact.
If I did this project again, I would definitely want to expand the range of participants. Though open to everyone, most of the individuals who engaged in the tree pickup were generally kids 5-13. I would love to advertise the event better, influencing more high schoolers to get involved!
My favorite part of this project was seeing how excited younger kids got when they received their trees!
During this event, I learned that the trees were actually distributed in bags rather than pots. If you wanted to save work for those receiving the trees (and have the time to dedicate), I'd recommend potting the trees yourself. Then, you could also incorporate a fun craft of painting the pots during another pickup event!
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