Harwood students look to plant trees to offset paper use

January 29, 2021 |  By Waterbury Roundabout 

Some Harwood Union High School students are taking aim at their school’s paper use with a project to plant more than 100 trees in April and they are looking for Waterbury, Duxbury, and Mad River Valley residents to participate. 

Students in the Harwood chapter of the Vermont Youth Lobby have joined up with the nonprofit organization Tree-Plenish which works with more than 85 schools to engage students in building sustainable communities. The students have chosen April 24 as their tree-planting day in an effort to offset their school’s paper usage during one academic year.

Tree-Plenish mentors students through a step-by-step process to achieve their goal of hosting their own tree-planting event. With the help of Tree-Plenish, students calculate their school’s paper usage. In order to reach their goal number of trees, students rely on local residents to put in requests for volunteers to plant trees on their property. 

In announcing the project, student organizers Maia George, Jamie Atchinson, and Rachel Goodwin explained their motivation: “We are passionate about student agency and affecting change in our local community and want to do our part to build a more sustainable future. We hope that this event can bring awareness to our community about our impact on the climate and help encourage the community to make positive change,” they wrote.

The Harwood students are accepting tree-planting requests now until about one month before the planting date to allow for ordering and delivery. The group also is seeking additional volunteers to help plant trees on the day of the event. 

Tree-Plenish has created specific guidelines with regard to the COVID-19 pandemic in order for everyone involved to participate safely in this outdoor activity. Everyone participating in the planting project will be required to wear masks and maintain distance from others. 

The project’s website is live now and accepting orders for trees and signing up volunteers. The project is offering silver maple and eastern redwood saplings for $5 each. Visit online at tree-plenishevents.org/harwood. 

Participants can also arrange to pick up saplings to plant themselves if they prefer. And if anyone would like to support the effort without getting a tree or volunteering, they may make an online donation to Tree-Plenish.