Now, it’s fair to say that most of us enjoy a good tree. Sound weird to you? It also wouldn’t be too far from the truth if we admitted to nudging someone close by so we could point and say “Look at that; that’s a beautiful tree”. Even stranger? It’s a funny thing to think about when isolated like that, but in today’s society, we live, recognise and at once forget the critical importance of our luscious leafy lovables. So here at EcoSwitch we’ve compiled a refreshing reminder to help us once again see…Why All The Fuss About Trees?

Why are Trees for Me?

Hopefully it doesn’t need to be mentioned again, but trees actually give us LIFE! Literally, if we didn’t have trees then we wouldn’t be here. Their responsibility to and for us forms part of the Earth’s glorious ecological balance. Without them we wouldn’t even be able to take a breath of oxygen to say “goodbye” with.
The balance is crucial and fundamental to human existence on Earth: as part of the photosynthesis process, trees “take in” CO2 from the air, separating the carbon from the oxygen molecules; the carbon is then absorbed by the tree, releasing the oxygen molecules into the atmosphere, as a waste product, for us to breathe in, and return the favour. It’s a bit like a biological see-saw.

But, apart from giving us a critical element of life, they can do much more! Trees have provided foodstuffs, such as nuts and fruits; supported homes for a vast majority of ecological species and eco-systems; provide the shade and shelter necessary for life to cultivate and evolve (just think, if we didn’t have rain forests, what life forms we’d be without); produce herbs and primary resources for a lot of medicines and pharmaceuticals; they’re helping us combat climate change (trees absorb pollutants such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide) and supporting us by enriching the soils, preventing floods, and, well, basically, keeping the shades of the globe Green.

The list goes on; but our ecological support worker has been developing and evolving its life affirming techniques over millions of years. And now, if falls within our reaches to see (or stop) the depletion of forestation and cycles of the ever-helpful, ever-Green – tree. So what are we to do about it?

“Hug” a tree. It is as simple as that. Go out into the big wide world and do what it is you can to help support the life of trees.

So, I Should Go Hug A Tree Now?

Well, in a word – yes! Why not? How great would it be if thousands-upon-thousands of office workers, business men, nurses, mums, dads, who-evers, suddenly burst out their door and hugged the first tree they found? Would this be the sort of action the eyes at 10 Downing Street might need to see? Perhaps.

Okay, that’s not exactly what “Hug” a tree really means here. Instead, it is more a thought of “support”. Think about how you, in the best way available, can help support the growth (as opposed to the depletion) of trees. Ask yourself “What am I doing to help?” or “What is it I can do?”

And if you’re really stuck, we’ve outlined a few simple solutions to help encourage those bigger changes, until they’re ready to stand on their own.

• Planting Trees – a great way to tip the scales back in the tree’s favour, is to donate trees overseas (click here to find out more)
• Lifestyle Changes – recycling, using recycled paper products and looking out for the FSC logo
• Help out a Tree Charity – there’re a loads out there; trees for cities is a great start