As part of this week’s Earth Day activities, Iowa-based Trees Forever is holding tree-planting events all over the state, including at an event tomorrow in Waterloo.
Erin Carpenter, the group’s field coordinator for northeast Iowa, says she’ll be helping a group of 30 volunteers break ground.
“We are planting 30 trees in the Church Row neighborhood in Waterloo,” Carpenter says. “It’s a very diverse mix of native trees, linden, bur oak, tulip tree, red oak, honey locust. It’s going to be really awesome for the canopy.”
The trees being planted will all range from six to eight feet and should flourish in the area. Carpenter says Church Row was singled out for this project.
“The neighborhood has less canopy than some other neighborhoods, and in particular, Elks Memorial Park really needed several trees to go in,” she says. “Elmwood Cemetery is almost next door to the park, and they lost over 100 ash trees when the emerald ash borer came through and killed all of the ash trees.”
Planting trees brings a host of benefits, Carpenter says, including improvements to air quality, mitigation of stormwater runoff, and reducing temperatures. She says there’s also evidence trees help to reduce crime — and improve our physical and mental wellbeing.
“Our natural habitat as human beings is grass and trees, and our brains are happy when we’re around trees,” she says. “Study after study shows that healing is improved, mental health is improved. This is where we belong, and trees do so much for us.”
Tomorrow’s event is scheduled to start at 10 A.M. at Elks Memorial Park.