WOOD YA, COULD YA SERIES PART FOUR : Living with Wood

Even you don't get to read the remainder of this post, please don't miss this video (or borrow the book from the library). It says  everything I want to say in this posting. Happy watching!

The Giving Tree, by Shel Silverstein, 1964

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zupqg3n0d7k

Just how much do we depend on wood? Here are some interesting facts:

 --According to the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF), tt is estimated that forest products contribute about 1% of world gross domestic product (GDP)! These products consist of timber, rubber, cotton, medicinal products and food.

 --If the volume of wood the world has used were to be stacked end to end in cubic foot blocks, it could circle the  earth's equator over 1000 times (880 times as of 1999 acc. to statistics).

The answer: Collective impact. Even small deeds when done by many, makes a difference. Here are some tips:
 

HELP PROTECT ACRES OF FORESTS

From the EBay Green Team website: The greenest product is often the one that already exists.

Ebay, online purveyor of used, vintage and refurbished goods, is sponsoring the Green Team challenge. They have partnered with Team Earth to protect the rainforests. Here's something from their website:

Taking the challenge is as simple as committing to give new lives to existing things by using, reusing or repurposing the products you use every day.Now through Earth Day (April 22), take the challenge to reuse what exists in the world, and we'll do our part to make your impact come to life. We've joined up with Team Earth to protect three rainforests that touch all of our lives in ways we may not have realized.
If you join the Green Team and take the challenge, we'll protect an acre of forest in your name in one of these three places. All you have to do is tell us where!
Plus, you'll automatically be entered for a chance to win $10,000 or hundreds of other great prizes. Join us… together, our actions can add up to something big!

As of this posting, 32,835 acres of forests are protected. 
Click on this link for more details:
http://www.ebaygreenteam.com/take-the-challenge
http://www.teamearth.com/Pages/default.aspx

GIVE TREES AS GIFTS
Re-forest the Amazon  
Through The Nature Conservancy, you can give a loved-one the gift of having trees planted in their honor. They are partnering with the Plant A Billion Trees project, to plant trees in the Atlantic forests of Brazil, considered to be one of the world's most endangered tropical forests.
Click on this link for more details:
http://www.plantabillion.org/

Help plant trees in forests destroyed by wildfires
According the founder of Trees For A Change, one of the best things you can do to fight global warming is to plant a tree. A tree makes a wonderful gift (that keeps on giving). According to their website, planting a tree in the name of someone you care about really seemed like the perfect gift idea: it benefits the planet, it makes you feel good to be giving a unique and personal gift, and it makes the person you are planting the tree for feel good because something wonderful has been done in their name.
Click on this link for more details:
http://www.treesforachange.com/index.html

I'll end with a famous poem by Joyce Kilmer:

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,But only God can make a tree.