Photo: Laura Velkei

Free Workshops on Landscape Transformation, this Saturday, May 4

Got plans for Saturday morning? If not, then come up to TreePeople and attend one of our free quarterly workshops on how to transform your home and neighborhood landscapes. You’ll learn everything you ever wanted to know about rain water harvesting, replacing a lawn with native plants, or planting trees—but were afraid to ask. Learn how you can make big sustainable changes at your home, and in our city, with simple DIY projects.

Read more about the May 4 workshops in the Los Angeles Times‘ Weekend Radar!… Read more >>

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Celebrate Urban Trees as Superheroes on National Arbor Day, April 26

U.S. Forest Service researchers have published compelling evidence* of urban trees’ immense carbon storage capacity. Along with the other many things they do to improve the environment, trees absorb carbon dioxide emissions from a multitude of pollution sources in our cities. “Thus,” the researchers conclude, “urban trees influence local climate, carbon cycles, energy use, and climate change.”

National Arbor Day is April 26. We join our friends at Alliance for Community Trees in the firm belief that reducing atmospheric CO2 is one of the most important functions of the urban forest—and that people can play a big role.… Read more >>

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Citizen Forestry: Why Trees Don’t Make Sustainable Communities, People Do

On April 27, several bleak and over-paved blocks of downtown L.A.’s Arts District will be transformed by a community planting of 27 trees. Birds will sing, leaves will flutter, and hearts will lift: all because one person had a dream and got enough people excited about that dream to make it a reality.

That’s how Citizen Forestry works.

Gabrielle Newmark, an Arts District resident, was the winner of last year’s TreePeople-GOOD Maker Green City Challenge. She happens to be one of the 1,146 Citizen Foresters TreePeople has trained over the past 30 years, as is her mother, Sheila Newmark, who transformed a nearly treeless elementary school playground in her day.… Read more >>

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TreePeople Turns 40: Thank You, Los Angeles!

Today marks 40 years since the Los Angeles Times shared a kid’s dream of saving our city and our forests. “Andy vs. the Bureaucratic Deadwood,” by Michael Seiler, touched many thousands of people–especially other kids and grandparents–and moved them to send in their pennies to nurture that dream.  Following the publication of  the article, the kid’s dream grew into a movement that over the years has engaged, educated, and supported millions of Angelinos in taking action to green and repair their neighborhoods, schools, and the forest watershed surrounding the city.… Read more >>

Photo: David Cassell

Namaste, Girl-Karma!

If what goes around comes around, then the group Girl-Karma can expect major Earth Day kudos for its members’ commitment to improving environmental health. Our wonderful volunteer Michelle Moy talked about her experience planting trees with TreePeople for the group’s Karma in Action column. She wanted to share what she learned about the benefits of trees, in order to inspire other young women to be agents for change, in their city and for their planet.

Michelle learned, among other things, that people are as important to the health of the urban forest as trees are.… Read more >>