On Saturday February 24, Sustaining Our Urban Landscape, Whole Foods Market, and the Rotary Club of Mid-City plan to plant 150 trees across 70 residential properties in an effort to increase the city’s capacity for water absorption.
The organizations will plant bald cypress and live oak trees, which SOUL says can absorb up to 880 gallons of water a day per tree.
“Planting trees is a tangible and affordable way to protect ourselves against the many forces that we are facing here, from flooding to the obesity epidemic,” said Susannah Burley, SOUL’s Founder and Executive Director, in a news release. “In addition to preventing flooding, healthy, mature trees can increase property values by up to 20 percent and reduce household energy usage by 35 percent.”
Similar initiatives have taken place in New Orleans. For example, the Urban Conservancy has its Front Yard Initiative that encourages homeowners to remove paving from their front or side yards, and replacing it with green space (which aids in water absorption across the city).
Want to volunteer in the upcoming tree planing? Check out SOUL’s official website. And if you’re looking for a free tree, the NOLA Tree Project is also giving away one free tree per household in Treme on February 24.
- Sustaining Our Urban Landscape [Official Website]