Trees for peace

I am a tree person because a Giant Sequoia saved my life. Twenty years ago I was pregnant—delightedly so—and in my heart of hearts, I knew something was dreadfully wrong with my child. It was one of the hardest times of my life.

On a cross country trip wherein we stopped at almost every single rest stop, pregnancy being what it is, we stayed in Eureka, California and communed with the redwoods. There, despite my certainty that something was wrong, one of the mother trees made something right for me.

I remember getting out of the car and approaching the mammoth energy of the tree. I could feel it pulsating in the environment around it. This tree redefined grounded for me. She wasn’t grounded; she was groundedness itself.

I asked her quite simply for her help. Mother-to-be to Mother-already. Then I plastered my swollen womb and breasts around the base of the tree for what seemed like hours. It was probably not even ten minutes.

An infusion of energy swelled into my body from the feet up. I felt a warm reassurance that I was right, that there was something wrong, but that it would be put right in the end. The Mother Sequoia was right—everything turned out for the best although the process was rocky to understate the case.

This is why I love trees.

Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, and founder of the Green Belt Movement in Kenya, Wangari Maathei, says, “A person uses up 10 trees for oxygen in one lifetime. If you haven’t planted 10 trees, you’re breathing someone else’s air.” I thought that was an impressive statistic, and I was secretly delighted with myself because I’ve already planted plenty more trees than ten in this lifetime. www.americanforests.org is a good place to start if you want to plant trees.

In the midst of my self-congratulations though, another thought occurred to me which gave me shivers. I’m an author. I use paper all the time. Long story short, I looked for more statistics and did the math. A person who lives to the age of 80 uses 30 tons of paper (that would be 60,000 pounds!) in a lifetime. I probably use even more than that, being a writer. Yikes!

How many trees make a ton of paper? There are lots of variables but the rule of thumb is 17. That 80 year old needs to have planted 510 trees by the time s/he dies to justify their “paper footprint.” Add 10 to that for air. I’m sure there are other miscellaneous tree usages I haven’t accounted here. For argument’s sake, let’s say the average Westerner needs to plant 750 trees in a lifetime to die at net-zero tree cost. Try the United Nation’s Environmental Program’s www.unep.org/billiontreecampaign.

Here’s why trees are good for peace. There are stunning trees outside my office window that bring me pleasure in all seasons. Pleasure in life is one of the major contributors to the rooting of peace in the world. Plant a tree and root for peace. Please.