“Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” Warren Buffet

How about this lovely write up in the New Yorker by Alex Hutchinson:
How Trees Calm Us Down

Here is an article in Forbes Magazine:
Plant A Tree, Cool The Planet – Forbes

Whether it is air purification, cooling effects, psychological benefits, offering shelter to animals and humans, trees are essential to quality of life on Earth. This is exactly in line with the motives behind Robot Pride Day.

So in case the above ideas do not coax you to act in adding to the Earth’s beautiful breathing apparatus, consider the alternative: AccuWeaather this week reported, world record temperatures in Iran – due to extreme heat and humidity, in Bandar Mahshahr the combination of an actual temperature of 115 F (46 C) and a dew point temperature of 90 F (32 C) pushed the apparent temperature to 163 F (73 C). Remember that a human, subjected to 35 degrees celsius and 100% humidity will start to break down and die after only 6 hours of exposure.

This Robot Pride Day – that is – August 4th, 2015, we are asking Sky Pirates around the world to plant a tree, or facilitate towards that effect by making a certified contribution to a reliable organization that will. We have carefully filtered through some of the most reputable organizations and listed them below. Please post a comment with your contribution, tree planting and other proof below this article. In time, we will make a real difference. Time to move away from armchair activism and spring into real, measurable action!

Of course we couldn’t talk about Robot Pride Day without mentioning robots! Of course one of the best things robots could do for us is to go into those super hot, dried out regions and plant the trees for us! They would never get tired, they wouldn’t come home bruised and battered. In fact, this is already happening, BUT the risk of us sharing this with you is that it can create a false sense of safety and hope. Do not let the promise of the future make you complacent today. We must do the work until things really change.

Reputable Tree Planting Organizations

You can research any charitable organization’s efficacy and reputability by examining their budget spending at Charity Navigator. The point is not to spend money and feel good about ourselves – the point is to make a legitimate difference in restoring the environment to balance and improving quality of life on Earth.

• Arbor Day
  “Become a member of the Arbor Day Foundation for as little as $10 and receive 10 trees planted in our Nation’s forests in your honor.”

[Charity rating]

• GROW
  “GROW (Great Reforestation Organizations of Worth) consists of those nonprofit tree-planting organizations that practice the best standards within the industry. This is defined by setting benchmarks, providing excellent business partnerships, not engaging in scams or deceptions, focusing on quality at all levels rather than profitability; and engaging in reforestation that tangibly benefits more than simply forest ecosystems.GROW members provide the best partnership opportunities with companies seeking to engage in legitimate tree-planting promotions. Each organization offers a unique package in what it has to offer in a partnership.”
• JNF Tree Planting Center
  “You can plant trees for many different reasons and help green the land of Israel while sending a special gift to a friend or loved one. For each order, a beautiful certificate of your choice is mailed to the recipient with your own personal message. Over the last 100 years, JNF has planted over 250 million trees in the land of Israel.”
• Felix Finkbeiner – Plant for the Planet
  “The children’s initiative Plant-for-the-Planet is initiated by 9-year-old Felix Finkbeiner. Inspired by Wangari Maathai, who planted 30 million trees in Africa in 30 years, Felix formulated his vision: Children could plant one million trees in every country on earth and thereby offset CO2 emissions all on their own, while adults are still talking about doing it. Each tree binds a CO2 intake of 10 kg per year. Felix promises UNEP that children in every country on earth will plant one million trees. In the following years, Plant-for-the-Planet developed into a global movement.”
• Trees Ontario – “Announced at the 65th Annual Ontario Forestry Association (OFA) Conference on Feb. 21, 2014, the OFA and Trees Ontario, two not-for-profits, officially merged and are now operating under the newly created Forests Ontario, an organization dedicated to the renewal and stewardship of Ontario’s forests.”

“The German Advisory Council on Global Change has developed an approach to solve the climate crisis: an upper limit for the allowed CO2 emissions until 2050. This global budget per head is spread evenly across all countries.

This means that we must reduce our CO2 emissions to zero by 2050. The technology for a carbon-free future has existed already for quite some time. With today’s technology, it is possible to cater for all our energy needs with renewable sources by 2050, without the use of nuclear power plants.”

[Source: Plant for the Planet]

DIY

A listing of organizations and agencies State by State (US) from the very reputable American Forest Foundation

Trees for the Future – Downloadable guides

If you want to plant yourself, here is a guide for 10 great Carbon-Storing Trees and How to Plant Them. Open the link, read it, and ACT!

Plant a tree or support an organization for RPD? Please let us know in the comments section below! Yay!