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Children in the Pittsburgh area are helping improve their neighborhoods by planting trees.
The One Tree Per Child Program, run by the nonprofit Tree Pittsburgh, helps children plant trees around schools, parks, streets, playgrounds, and other spots.
Fantazier: “We really love when we’re able to plant trees in a space that those students are going to experience again and again. … Typically, it’s pretty magical. Young people often want to name the tree that they plant.”
Jonathan Fantazier, who runs the program, says the One Tree Per Child Initiative was started in Australia by singer Olivia Newton-John and her friend Jon Dee.
It was brought to Pittsburgh about 10 years ago, and participants have since planted hundreds of trees.
Fantazier’s team also hosts field trips at their tree nursery and helps students learn to care for trees.
Trees filter stormwater and provide shade, so the program will help the students’ neighborhoods adapt as climate change brings more extreme heat and heavy rain.
Fantazier: “The best part for me of working with young people who are aware of and concerned about climate change is that we can demonstrably show them something practical that they can do about it.”
Reporting credit: Ethan Freedman / ChavoBart Digital Media
