What’s In A Tree?

Feb 5, 2015

Some people play ‘what’s in a name?’ Let’s play ‘what’s in a tree?’ Your answer most likely depends upon which part of the world you’re living in. Some people would answer fruit and/or nuts and/or squirrels and/or birds and/or monkeys and/or …. you get the idea.

One common thing that’s in all trees: carbon! Not as exciting as monkeys, perhaps, but capturing and storing carbon is extremely important, especially in today’s highly industrialized world.

U-Haul is proud to be partnered with Tree Canada, a non-profit tree-planting organization. For more than twenty years, Tree Canada has planted and cared for nearly 80 million urban and rural trees. Every tree planted captures and stores carbon, thereby cleaning the air we breathe. These trees produce oxygen, provide shade and cool cities during the summer, and create habitats for wildlife. Each time a customer rents a U-Haul truck in Canada, an option to offset moving emissions, by contributing to Tree Canada, at checkout is provided. U-Haul forwards 100 percent of all contributions directly to Tree Canada.

Visible Change

One of the first plantings that U-Haul customers helped fund through Tree Canada is the ongoing “from moonscape to greenscape” tree-planting initiative in Sudbury, Ont. Ravaged by hundreds of years of mining and smelting, the environment of Sudbury included 7,000 acid-damaged lakes and 80,000 hectares of nearly barren landscape. The area was so decimated, it resembled the moon. In fact, Apollo astronauts in 1971 conducted training exercises in Sudbury. Thanks in part to U-Haul customers and Tree Canada, this previous ‘moonscape’ is now an award-winning ‘greenscape.’

Each and every dollar contributed by U-Haul customers helps restore landscapes across Canada. So next time you enjoy the beauty of a tree, you can look past the monkeys (or whatever else you see in that tree) and know that deep inside, the tree has sequestered carbon to make your world a better place.

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