Posted 4/27/20
Perspectives / Blog
Share +
Cleaning Up Carbon Footprints by Planting Trees
Thanks to participants in Forterra’s Evergreen Carbon Capture program, 6,000 new trees will lend their strength to counter the effects of climate change.
In forests and parks across Puget Sound, co-workers, neighbors, families, and friends have been working alongside professionals from area stewardship organizations to plant trees as part of Forterra’s Evergreen Carbon Capture program. The saplings might not look like much—two feet tall, slender, with a modest tail of shaggy roots—but each one possesses the power to sequester carbon. On average, each tree will sequester five tons of carbon in its lifetime. And in the face of climate change, we’re going to need every last one of them.
In early 2020, Evergreen Carbon Capture added some 6,000 more trees to local forests, building climate resilience and restoring the ecological function of our urban green spaces and forested lands. We raise a shovel in gratitude and fellowship to all those who made this year’s planting season a record-breaking success.
Many Puget Sound businesses and residents are taking steps to reduce their carbon emissions. Evergreen Carbon Capture program members go one step further. They use our online tools to calculate their carbon footprint and support Forterra in planting the trees needed to offset it. Together with the local stewardship organizations that act as our partners in the field, Forterra plants one tree for every five tons of carbon.
What did it take to get 6,000 trees in the ground?
- Eight field partners that planted trees. Thank you!
- The generous financial support of 30 businesses, many individuals, and donations from Green Diamond Resource Company—each contributing to 6,000 trees in the ground. Thank you!
- Employees of these businesses and nonprofits also took part in tree planting. Thank you!
- And finally, 300 employee, friend, and family volunteers who dug holes, hauled mulch, and gave those 6,000 trees the best possible start to a life of sequestering carbon, filtering air and water, providing wildlife habitat, and sharing their green splendor with the people who live and work in Puget Sound. Thank you!
This season trees were planted in: Arlington, Carnation, Everett, Issaquah, Marysville, Redmond, Seattle, Shoreline, Snohomish County, Snoqualmie, and Tukwila. View our tree map to see how Forterra’s Evergreen Carbon Capture program is replenishing our local forests. Or better yet, go for a walk and admire these small but mighty trees in person.
To join the 2020-2021 planting season, visit our website and calculate your footprint, or email EvergreenCarbon@forterra.org. We’ve planted 40,000 trees so far, and thanks to businesses and individuals offsetting their carbon footprint, our partners, and committed volunteers, we have no plans to stop. Our gorgeous Pacific Northwest forests and our green cities and towns depend on us.