Trees work for your health.
Trees work for your family.
Trees work for your wallet.
Trees work for the environment.
Trees work for your community.
Trees work for the economy.
Did you know that being around trees lowers your blood pressure and pulse rate? But that’s not all! Kids perform better on tests and have reduced symptoms on ADHD after spending time around trees and in nature. Trees along city streets raise home values by an average of $8,000.
The trees around us are constantly “on the job,” working for us in ways we don’t often think about. Trees also provide habitat for wildlife, wood products, and shade for our homes. Trees work in so many incredibly important and surprising ways!
The Missouri Department of Conservation’s educational Trees Work campaign is meant to increase awareness of the benefits our trees and forests provide. Many of us appreciate the beauty of an oak releasing its tender spring leaves or a maple shading our deck without being aware of the real and valuable benefits those trees are providing for our health, our families, our wallets and our environment.
The Trees Work campaign helps Missourians know all the ways trees and forests are working for us in our everyday lives. But it also provides information on what you can do to take care of the trees around you, whether you have a small back yard or acres of property.
Whether it’s a walk in the park, playtime in the backyard, or a hike through the woods, get outdoors and see how trees work for you and your family. Visit www.treeswork.org to learn more and get involved. And, help spread the message that our trees and forests are more than pretty, static things . . . Trees Work!
Beyond Belief: Trees Work Fact or Fiction
Which one of the following statements is fiction and which are amazingly true? See if you can pick the liar out of the bunch. Hint: Only one is bogus. Really.
- The forest products industry contributed over 9 billion dollars to Missouri’s economy in the last year, which is more than the total net worth of Oprah Winfrey and Donald Trump combined.
- In one year, an acre of trees can absorb as much carbon as is produced by a car driven from St. Joseph to Puxico and back ten times.
- A 10 percent increase in large trees in a neighborhood has a corresponding drop in crime of 12 percent.
- Your computer screen is comprised of 85 percent recycled wood products.
Answers: (1-3 are true. 4, not so much.)