Climate change is one of the environmental issues that affects us on a global scale that we have become more aware of over the years. As the consequences of rapid industrial advancements are still catching on to us to date, we have gone past the need for awareness. It is now time to act upon it for the life we live now and the world that is yet to come. this is where the benefits of tree planting comes in.
There are many numerous activities that you can do to help improve the quality of our environment. Aside from your actions as an individual when it comes to your consumption, purchasing habits, and the way you manage your waste in your household, sharing your advocacies and acting upon them with the community is the most effective way of multiplying our conscious environmental efforts for maximum benefits.
Ever since the modern environmental movement was born in 1970, April 22 has been marked as Earth Day.
Before that monumental point in world history, Americans, who were then the world’s frontrunners in modern innovation and progress, were consuming great amounts of leaded gas through automobiles.
As shiny and as exciting as it was to be immersed in a new, more convenient way of transportation, the industry freely belched out harmful smoke and sludge with no regard for its consequences. At such a time when everyone was thrilled to be part of the high of being part of these technological advancements in society, air pollution was akin to the smell of progress and prosperity.
With the hunger for innovation and a thirst for the shiny and new, mainstream America remained oblivious to the threats a polluted environment brings to the health of humans and the ecosystem as a whole.
This was not until more and more individuals began to be concerned about the oil spills and the practices of factories and powerplants with raw sewage and toxic dumps. There was also the widespread use of pesticides and the rapid spike in the construction of several freeways, which contributed to the extinction of wildlife.
Earth Day 1970 was spearheaded by a variety of people – from urban dwellers and farmers to politicians, businessmen, and labor leaders. The first movement showed how the people, no matter how different we are from each other in social stature, can strongly be united through shared common values and goals.
This resulted to environmental laws being in place to encourage sustainable living that encourages progress while recognizing that we also need to take care of the planet we live in.
Start marking your calendars – July 28 is World Nature Conservation Day. While Earth day marks the monumental point in history when the world’s frontrunner in modern advancements began leading environmental initiatives, World Nature Conservation Day digs deeper in the purpose of why we should and how we can protect the home we live in.
World Nature Conservation Day highlights the growing need to conserve the Earth’s natural resources and ecosystems that are crucial to maintaining the health of our planet.
This day aims to raise awareness of the ongoing climate crisis we are still facing to date. World Nature Conservation Day reminds us that the fight to ensure a sustainable and healthy planet for future generations lives on, and that Earth Day 1970 was simply just the beginning.
It’s becoming increasingly urgent to protect the Earth from modern advancement’s harmful environmental practices, as climate change’s ravages become more and more apparent.
Trees are a symbol of life, transformation, and hope. As more people become aware of the issues the world is facing and will continue to face due to climate change, tree planting activities have become increasingly popular.
Widely perceived as a seemingly straightforward and relatively inexpensive solution to climate change, tree planting is not only good for the environment in the long run, but beneficial to our communities as well.
It’s an activity that, with enough guidance and an efficient procedure, can be done by just about anyone who wants to partake in a community-building activity that also combats the complex and widespread problem that is climate change.
It’s easier to see the effects of global warming in the urban environment. The materials and shapes of the structures affect heat distribution, with surfaces like concrete and asphalt heating up from the sun, contributing to the rising temperatures, especially in the summertime.
To add to this, pollutants that stick in the atmosphere also block the rise of heat from the surface to the atmosphere. This alters the natural rise and fall of temperatures, making it hot in the city even at night.
Given these conditions, along with the decline of tree coverage in the cities, the heat greatly affects the lifestyle and health of urban dwellers. For instance, in Metro Manila, for instance, housing the most prominent business districts and commercial establishments, millions are forced to cope with the rising heat.
Making room for more trees and finding ways to incorporate more green coverage in urban landscapes, it can greatly help in alleviating this problem. By providing shade and releasing water, trees can cool cities up by a significant margin.
Ironically, the cost of rapid technological advancements in transportation and manufacturing that aims to make our lives easier comes at a cost – a cost so pricey that in turn makes progress moot as it gradually harms the planet we live on.
What’s convenient and easier now greatly costs the sustainability of the Earth, our home, in the long run. The build-up of excess harmful carbon dioxide in the atmosphere worsens climate change, one of the most pressing global issues we have been dealing with for the longest time.
Trees help fight this by absorbing harmful CO2 gases in the air while releasing much-needed oxygen to the surroundings. Tree-planting projects do not only help offset current carbon emissions, but they also draw out those that have lingered in the atmosphere for so long.
Even if you don’t live in a city, chances are you’ve found yourself wishing you were on a beach or mountain vacation, if only for the beautiful scenery and the opportunity to breathe in some cleaner, fresher air.
Aside from having fewer carbon emissions brought about by establishments and vehicles, rural landscapes have greater tree coverage that purifies the air. Inhalation of polluting gases such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides is reduced by trees.
By absorbing odors and with their leaves acting as a filter for particulates in the atmosphere, trees contribute to the “fresh feel” in the environment.
By being stewards of environmental protection, the natural resources we sustain, then, in turn, reward us with good health and a greater quality of life.
As a collaborative activity, tree-planting projects also have several social benefits. By educating communities about its environmental benefits and raising awareness of climate change, community spirit and unity are built and made stronger.
In a community, people from all walks of life are bound together by a shared commitment to environmental stewardship.
As an outdoor activity, this also has a positive impact on everyone’s mental health and well-being in both the short and long term.
All of us know how beneficial it is to take a break from the hustle and bustle of daily life to spend some time in nature. The Japanese even coined a specific term for being surrounded by nature: Shinrin-yoku, or “forest bathing”.
You don’t even have to be physically outdoors to reap the health benefits of nature. Even just having a great view outside your window of trees gently waving in the breeze around lush greenery, already reduces stress, and anxiety, and generally improves your wellbeing.
Imagine enjoying the convenience of living in an urban area without compromising your quality of life and overall health – this is the vision of initiatives such as tree-planting projects. We don’t have to choose between progress and the environment as they can harmoniously co-exist through our conscious choices as individuals and collective initiatives.
Apart from environmental efforts like tree-planting projects, the vision of providing a good quality of life without compromising ease of life is also realized by many private corporations nowadays, who are offering their products and services that are produced or sourced sustainably.
There are also notable home and community developers, such as Vista Land and Lifescapes, who build sustainable residential properties in master-planned communities.
Conveniently nestled nearby urban landscapes, these communities also highly prioritize green spaces not only to help protect the environment but also to maintain a great quality of life for all without sacrificing progress and convenience.
Even as the strong drive for urban advancement initially brought us to having to deal with global issues such as climate change, we can also use these innovations to once and for all, turn it around and start building a sustainable future for the many generations to come.
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