MCN and Davey Deliver 'Tree of Life' to Legislators in Springfield: Elgin Day 2009

On Feb 26, 2009 Elgin leaders and citizens traveled to Springfield to encourage state representatives and senators to remember their 'Tree City' for capitol funding from the stimulus bill.

Volunteers delivered 200 Dark Green Arborvitae (Tree of Life), donated by McHenry County Nursery and distributed by DaveyTree, to the desks of legislators.

Trees and shrubs are an important part of any infrastructure planning, but are vital to an environmentally friendly 'Green' infrastructure plan.

For more information on the value 'Green' communities,
see our Street Smart article series.

Combating Climate Change with Landscape Architecture

"ASLA has produced a guide to the best online resources for landscape architecture-related climate change mitigation. The resource guide includes links to web sites focused on sustainable site planning, land-use, open spaces, stormwater management, green roofs, plant selection, and other areas."

Go to the resource guide

The Green in the Economic Stimulus Bill

"A key way to stimulate the economy is through the creation of a green workforce ... improving and restoring our nation’s landscapes. Rebuilding the green infrastructure as we rebuild the gray infrastructure ... urging our leaders to put economic stimulus package to work where it can do the most good for people and the environment."
The legislation gives government flexibility so they can quickly implement ‘shovel ready’ projects. Restoring the environment will also improve the local economies and the quality of life.
The final bill includes $500 million and should urban forest tree planting projects.
The legislation also includes Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants (EECBG) funding. Cities and counties should "consider shade tree planting as an easy, cost effective way to conserve energy around buildings. As few as three strategically-placed trees around a home can cut air-conditioning costs and energy use by one-half!"
Full Article by Deborah Gangloff - Executive Director of American Forests

Polycarbonate gets new life as crates

Polycarbonate is a material that’s plentiful throughout the green industry, and historically it hasn’t been recycled.
Green-Tek Inc., a plastic coverings fabricator in Edgerton, Wis., has replaced the oriented strand board (OSB) sides of its shipping crates with the used polycarbonate sheets, keeping them out of the landfill. Green-Tek customers can return their old polycarbonate sheets when they purchase new sheets.
Polycarbonate gets new life as crates

Green questions, answered

"If I use a lot of water rinsing out food containers before putting them in the recycling bin, am I really being eco-friendly? Or, am I doing the world a favor when I choose to use compact-florescent light bulbs? They’re energy-efficient, but also contain a trace amount of mercury.
If you’re looking for a fact-based, pro/con treatment of these kinds of issues, check out The Green Lantern department at Slate.com. Its columnists have tackled several topics near and dear to the green industry, like whether it’s better to buy a fake or real Christmas tree and which shade trees soak up the most carbon."

Project: Green Industry

Trees Absorb a Fifth of Carbon Emissions Pumped Out by Humans

"The journal Nature published a study that found nearly one-fifth of fossil fuel emissions are absorbed by forests across Africa, Amazonia, and Asia. Lewis found that on average the trees are getting bigger and absorbing more CO2, contrary to the theory that mature forests are carbon neutral as a result of the carbon absorbed by new trees being balanced by that released from old trees dying.
Dr. Simon Lewis, a Royal Society research fellow at the University of Leeds and author of the paper, added a 40-year study of African forests to existing data on South American and Asian forests, and concluded, 'Tropical forest trees are absorbing about 18 percent of the CO2 added to the atmosphere each year from burning fossil fuels, substantially buffering the rate of climate change.'The findings could be used to pressure world leaders to halt deforestation, Lewis said. "It's good news for now but the effect won't last forever. The trees can't keep on getting bigger and bigger," Lewis noted."
Alliance for Community Trees

Beeson's McHenry County Nursery - In The News

May's Delight Crabapple is featured in the January 2009 issue of NMPro magazine.

EcoStimulus

It's not too late to contact your Senators to urge their support of forest-friendly provisions of the economic stimulus package.
American Forests Forestbytes December 2008