Kids Plant The Tree

Benefits of Planting Trees in Your Yard

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I grew up in a city where there were trees literally everywhere. I could find one in front of every house. We are blessed with many beautiful parks and forests. Before I started this blog, I never paid much attention to trees and took them for granted throughout the years. Now, I have my children. I truly hope our next generation also to have the chance to enjoy one of the best gifts from nature.

Do you know there are tremendous benefits in planting a tree in yard? Let’s go through them one by one!

How do Trees Help the Environment?

It’s evident that there are global warming and climate changes. I didn’t pay too much attention to these facts until I read a news recently. This is where the air quality in one of the developing countries is so polluted; a businessman became wealthy by selling bottled clean air from another country as a souvenir to the local people.

Trees can combat pollution, as it can absorb CO2, filtering harmful dust, and odors. I live in a corner lot next to a busy road so that trees really help to filter out some of the noxious gas from cars.

Not only trees can act as a filter, but according to TreePeople, an acre of mature trees can also provide sufficient oxygen for eighteen people for a year. [1]https://www.treepeople.org/tree-benefits

On a more macro level, planting trees help reducing stormwater runoff, soil erosion, and pollution in waterways. It also provides habitats and food sources to birds, insects and other animals.

Social Benefits of Trees

When you have trees in your garden, it could help to attract birds. Some studies suggest that by watching birds, shrubs, and trees, it can help a person to de-stress. [2]https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/02/25/watching-garden-birds-good-mental-health-research-shows It helps us to feel serene and peaceful. In fact, there are signs that patients can recover more quickly when their hospital rooms have a view of trees.

Trees do not only act as habitat for animals, but some could also provide nutritious fruits to your family. Apple, orange, lemon, lychee, peach, avocado are some of the choices that my kids love.

Furthermore, trees can enhance privacy to a home. If you are living close to a busy street like me, they could help muffle the noise.

Economic Benefits of Trees

A tree can actually lower your energy bill. During the summer, it could provide shades to cool off the house. While in winter, it could protect your home from wind.

Trees indeed can make the neighborhood more appealing and provide the sense of liveliness. When I was researching online, numerous websites stated that some homes with healthy mature trees could value 10% higher than similar ones in same the neighborhood.

Although one might think it’s troublesome to plant a tree, it is one of the lowest maintenance plants you could add to your yard. Unlike other plants, you do not need to replant a tree every year. If you plant it properly, you just need to water it and trim it every once in awhile.

Importance of Trees for Kids

Don’t you think this image would look awesome on your Pinterest board?

In addition to the benefits we just discussed, your child could have lots of fun playing around trees. For example, you could install slacklining between trees, where you kid could balance walking along the line. Hang a rope with multiple knots from a tree; then the child could start climbing like a monkey.

These activities could promote physical development. It also helps to strengthen their courage and determination.
For a more relaxing option, you could install a hammock between trees, where your child could chill laying on it to read books and enjoy music.

You can also considering building a tree house, so that your child could have their own area to store their toys and spend time with their friends. This allows them to enjoy in outdoors while having protection from overexposure to the sun and wind.

How can We Protect Trees?

Now we understand the benefits of trees can bring to us; it is vital to know what can be done to preserve them. Below are some tips:

Maintain and Care for Your Trees

It would require you to have some understanding of your trees, as every kind of them could be different. You should find out how much water they need, and what type of soil is right for them, then you can provide accordingly. Also, proper pruning is vital in keeping the trees strong and healthy.

Use Less Paper

With the technology we have nowadays, there are many ways we could consume less paper.

  • Most companies (i.e., financial, utilities, charity) have an option for clients to receive their statement or communication through emails. I would opt-in to them so they can stop sending me paper copies. This option is a lot more convenient for me. It is easier to retrieve the documents, and I do not have to waste time in shredding papers.
  • In an office environment, rather than printing out all the documents, you could consider emailing them instead. In fact, many senders would include a footnote in the email to remind recipient to only print out the content when truly necessary. This does not only save paper, but it also saves a lot of ink or toner, which could potentially reduce the office expenses. If you really need to print out something, then consider doing so double-sided.
  • If your workplace is heavily relying on using papers, you could encourage in transiting into a digital platform. Rather than using pens and papers, some restaurants are starting to use tablets to input their customers’ orders, while some companies will ask their clients in taking online surveys. This will benefit the environment and a smart way of doing business for the long haul.

Less Frequent Use of Tree Products

I love drinking coffee. Although I usually have one at home in the morning, when I’m on the road, I would order one at a drive-through cafe. In many instances, the staffs would provide me with a coffee tray. However, since I already have numerous cup holders in my car, I usually would ask them to save it. Some restaurants even allow customers to bring their own cup. This could save many paper cups over the years.

Also, take only the amount of napkins you need. If there are extra ones that haven’t been used, don’t just throw it out. You could at least use it to wipe of the dust in your car or house before you dispose them.

Reuse or Recycle

  • I tend to do a lot of reading online in the past ten years. If there’s a book I really like, and there’s no digital version, I would buy a second-hand copy rather than a new one. For the books that I kept for years, but no longer reading, I would donate them to the local library or school.
  • I have been using some of my wooden furniture for many years. ( The home office desk that I’m using to type this post had been used for over 13 years.). There are many unappealing scratches, and I feel it’s time to renew the office look. Rather than throwing it away, I would refurbish it. Merely sand off the surface with sandpaper, apply another color of paint, then the desk is as good as new!
  • Even though, I’ll do my best to opt-in for e-mailing. I still receive some promotional flyers in my mailbox every once in a while. For the ones that are printed on single-side, I would give them to my daughters where they could use it for drawing or practice writing on it. If there are some that really cannot be used, remember to put them into the recycle bin.

Be Cautious about Wildfire

Wildfire can burn thousands of trees into ashes. Although there could be different causes of wildfires, according to National Park Service [3]https://www.nps.gov/articles/wildfire-causes-and-evaluations.htm, 90 percent of them in the US are caused by humans.

The cause could be as simple as discarding cigarettes negligently, leaving the campfire unattended, and burning of debris. Therefore, it is important for us to learn from history, and do not repeat the same mistake.

 

My Final Thoughts about the Importance of Trees

When I was doing online research in writing this post, a question suddenly came to mind. “Can we live without trees?“. The simple answer is “no.” According to an article from Nature.com [4]https://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/our-science/no_trees_no_humans, if there were no trees, the air would be so filthy which makes it unsuitable for humans to breathe. There would be lifeless soil and chronic drought.

Since there are no trees, there wouldn’t be any tree-based products such as paper, pencils, barrels, books, hockey sticks, baseball bats, blocks, benches, crutches, coffee filters, guitars, paper bags, pine oil, beds, billboards, buttons, fuelwood, charcoal, and many others. Of course, there wouldn’t be any tree fruits as well. We enjoy using these products over the years without realizing four billion trees are being cut down every year.

Trees indeed provide tremendous benefits to humans, and it is our responsibility to preserve this valuable resource and educate our kids the importance in doing so.

 

 

 

Disclaimer: We are not an arborist, and not a tree expert. Please use your judgement to determine the safety of each and consult with a certified arborist. This content of this website is for general information, and do not intend to provide any specific advice. Although we tried our best in providing accurate information, we cannot guarantee they are error-free. Information displayed on this website could be subjected to change. For any medical-related question, you should always consult with your family doctor. For safety or product related question, you should consult with the actual manufacturer or qualified technician. You should also check the laws of your local government.

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