FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Kathleen Hennessy
Bailey Nurseries News Center
Axiom Marketing Communications
(952) 224-2939 ext. 20
khennessy@axiomcom.com
Peggy Anne Montgomery
Bailey Nurseries Horticulturalist
(651) 768-3444
peggy.montgomery@baileynurseries.com
Trees are Cool!
Bailey Nurseries’ program shows how easy it is to be part of the solution.
St. Paul, Minn. (Spring 2007) – Planting just one tree can make a difference. That is the messsage of Bailey Nurseries’ “Trees Are Cool” program. Trees play an important roll, not
just in global environmental issues but also in the environment of our own backyards.
Look for the special “Trees are Cool” tags at garden centers this spring to learn more about the benefits of planting a tree. Then log on to www.BaileyNurseries.com to enter your tree planting pledge. The web site also offers more information about the benefits of tree planting, as well as images and description of different tree types.
Here are a few reasons why Trees are Cool:
• Shade trees can reduce utility bills for air conditioning by 15-50%.
• Healthy trees can increase residential property values by up to 15%.
• The net cooling effect of a young, healthy tree is equivalent to 10 room-size air conditioners
operating 20 hours a day.
• Studies indicate that trees help create feelings of relaxation and well-being.
• In one year an average tree produces enough oxygen for a family of four.
• One tree can absorb the CO2 output from four cars every year.
• To make up for the loss of trees in just the past decade, we would need to replant 321
million acres, which would entail planting approximately 14 billion trees every year - for 10
consecutive years.
• Planting trees remains the cheapest, most effective means of drawing excess CO2 from the
atmosphere.
• Planting 100 million trees could reduce carbon by an estimated 18 million tons per year,
while saving American consumers $4 billion each year on utility bills.
• If every American family planted just one tree, the amount of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) in the
atmosphere would be reduced by one billion pounds annually. This is almost five percent of
the amount that human activity pumps into the atmosphere each year.
• Forests cover about 30 percent of the global land surface, providing structure and
functional habitat for two-thirds of the Earth's terrestrial species.
• The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) estimates that, with improvements in plant
productivity and conversion efficiencies, 25 percent of U.S.-imported oil could be displaced
by plantation-grown trees by 2050.
• The amount of oxygen produced by an acre of trees per year equals the amount consumed
by 18 people annually. One tree produces nearly 260 pounds of oxygen each year.
• The world's tallest tree is a coast redwood in California, measuring more than 360 feet!!
• Approximately 2.6 million acres of trees are planted in the U.S. annually. This annual
planting roughly equals the size of Connecticut.
• Trees lower local air temperatures by transpiring water and shading surfaces. Because they
lower air temperatures, shade buildings in the summer, and block winter winds, they reduce
building energy use and cooling costs.
Look for the “Trees are Cool” tags at garden centers this spring. Visit www.BaileyNurseries.com
to pledge your tree planting activities and to learn more about the “Trees Are Cool” program.
For more information about the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Billion Tree
campaign visit http://www.unep.org/billiontreecampaign.
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Bailey Nurseries is a family-owned wholesale nursery with home offices in St. Paul, Minnesota. It is among the top wholesale nurseries in the United States and provides industry members
throughout the U.S. and Canada with a full line of bareroot and container-grown plants from
Bailey’s properties in Minnesota, Oregon, and Washington.