Planting Trees For Our Future

While watching the TV the other night an advert came on advertising toilet paper. The advert extolled the virtues of the company behind the product by saying something along the lines of ..."we plant 2 trees for every one knocked down to make our toilet rolls."

Although on the surface this is seems commendable I often wonder how many old trees are destroyed simply to make toilet rolls!

The interesting thing is that there is an eco alternative to traditional paper rolls. Yes, there is an alternative - they are treeless toilet rolls made from sugar cane - sugar cane waste in actual fact. This waste is a fibre called bagasse, and it is formed after the sugar cane stalks have been crushed and the juice released.

The great thing about bagasse is that it is highly concentrated in cellulose which is ideal for making tissue -  hence treeless toilet rolls.

Trees are vital to us for all sorts of reasons - the most important being they produce the oxygen we need to live. Clearing forests, while sometimes necessary, has however gone beyond necessity it seems.

But people have been powerless to stop it. We can demonstrate all we like but in the end governments around the world make the final decisions. Even those that purport to be democracies.

And what about places like Africa? Much of this continent has been cleared of tees to make way for so-called modern development. In fact, deforestation has caused so much damage that even larger animals such as African Elephants are now in danger of extinction.

But a few of us are doing something worthwhile to put back what's been lost. It's called the 10,000 trees project.

And you can get involved. You can buy trees for just £5 with a choice of 3 - 2 fruit trees: Mango and Apple; and an indigenous tree.

When you purchase an indigenous tree for example it:

1. Provides food, medicines and shelter
2. Improves living standards of the local population
3. Rebuilds worn soil
4. Reduces erosion
5. Replenishes groundwater aquifiers
6. Creates a microclimate
7. Encourages the return of other indigenous species
8. Improves the soil quality necessary for
                                                           both bio-diversity and agriculture

So what are you waiting for?

It is said that when you give a man (or woman) a fish you can feed him for a day, but teach him or her to fish and you feed for a lifetime.

And so the same applies to planting trees. You are giving life back to a land that was barren. And helping its people at the same time.

If that's not a worthwhile cause....

To find out more about the 10,000 project visit www.wegogreen.org.uk and to purchase one of the trees for just £5 (and receive a certificate as well) visit the Tree Section in the shop.