On June 30^th, in Good Living magazine and The Age newspaper, Take 5 section, Fifteen Trees found itself a humble corner. Just a couple of sentences. The magazine wrote about how planting fifteen trees each year is roughly enough to capture the carbon your car emits, and that Fifteen Trees can help.

Well, from those few words, 450 trees were very quickly pledged. Twenty-seven people, including Genevieve Rota (journalist who wrote the article), were inspired to purchase 15 trees to reduce their car’s carbon footprint for one year.

As we are right in the middle of tree planting season, we have very quickly organised the planting of these trees. All of the trees were planted in the Murrindindi Shire, VIC and organised by Chris Cobern and the Upper Goulburn Landcare Network. Three hundred trees were planted on Bev Dick’s property in Archeron, VIC, and another 150 trees were planted by Jan and Michale Coonan at Yea. At both sites, the trees will grow into habitat trees for the resident possums, owls, bats and other native wildlife. Along the way, the seedlings will assist with building soil integrity, provide a home for hundreds of other tiny wild creatures, filter the water table, and clean the air.

Gidday Colleen,

I only recently came across Fifteen Trees and thought what a fabulous the idea! So, when I heard that  some of my Landcare Grant trees were from Fifteen Trees,  I understood exactly what that meant!

I just wanted to tell you and your wonderful supporters how important your trees are, that I have planted on my farm over the few weeks.

I love this land. And am taking great care to manage and revegetate areas that need trees. I have a canoe tree (Taungurung) on the property that is very special and a tall hill with magnificent view of the Cathedral Mountain.

I am very grateful for these trees and wish to extend my thanks to all your supporters.

Bev Dick | Member | Alexandra Landcare

All this abundance from a snippet in a corner of a magazine and daily paper. Our thanks and gratitude to The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald for spreading the word, and to the readers for their generosity and compassion.

 

We would like to publicly thank the following generous people who responded to Genevieves’s article; Elizabeth Roberts, Damon Eisen, Alan Joffe, Kay Vernon, Janet Oscar, Narda Sowter, John Adams, Jennifer Whelahan (as a gift to the Calastas Family on their citizenship), Denise Hellier (as a gift to grand-daughter Campbell Bonnano), Kerry Reid, Lisa Tilche, Mark Prescott, Anthony Chifford, Jennifer Dewar, Nadia Zitouni, Philippa Greenwood, Debra Barrow, Petra Stirling, Genevieve Rota, Carol Scott, Elizabeth & Robert Burrows (as a gift to Nick & Annie), Mary Debrett, Regan Passlow, Warrick Teasdale, Sharon Khanna and Lynett Phelan.

 

Are you interested also purchasing 15 trees to reduce your car’s carbon footprint for one year? You can purchase here. We still have many community planting groups keen to plant this season and once planted, we link you with your trees.

Here at Fifteen Trees, we are always happy to have a chat about the best way to incorporate sustainability into your organisation. We can help you to connect with the broader community and reduce your environmental impact. If interested, please contact Melinda at <[email protected]>

Writer – Sarah Hart.

Sarah is an artist whose passions include the stories and experiences of women and narrative driven creative work. Her aim is to delight, to reveal glimpses of everyday beauty, and to celebrate flights of the ordinary. Sarah works across a range of media, with an abiding interest in pen and ink, mixed media and the human form. You can find Sarah here.