Last year we lost the Maple Tree in our front yard. This was the tree that kept my house cool in summer. It harbored the birds that woke me early and the tree frogs that lulled me to sleep at night. I cried as it came down and wondered how I could have helped it avoid this fateful day.
My tree was one of roughly 3.5 to 7 billion cut down each year due to deforestation and climate change. I remember when my tree started struggling. We had a super hot, dry summer about five years ago and I watched some of the oldest, sturdiest trees begin to wilt. It was weird! I mean, I’m used to flowers drooping and lawns turning brown in drought but being a native Midwesterner, it’s unusual to see a big, 200 year-old tree wilt. So I took the longest hose I could find and watered not only my Maple Tree but as many others my water hose could reach.
Unfortunately, it was too little too late. By the fall, my Maple Tree had cracks running up the side of its trunk and parts of its canopy were beginning to bald. I knew I lost it before they cut it down but the kid in me kept hoping it would pull thru. I know I sound crazy, people watch more than their trees die and I definitely got a little anthropomorphic as I cared for my tree, treating it like a giant pet begging for water and comfort in my front yard.
The truth is, like so much in nature many of us don’t realize trees are a source of life. Without them we’d be dead.
Yup! Trees absorb CO2 and other pollutants storing carbon and emitting oxygen so we can breathe. Did you know they clean our fresh water supplies too? In addition to improving 80% of the overall biodiversity on our planet, they also house tiny creatures that bring balance to our environment. We can’t forget that they help reduce heat in the summer with their shade (and beauty!)
Trees actually help us fight climate change. Sadly, climate change is fighting back. It’s creating fiercer storms, devastating hurricanes and intense wildfires that are taking out thousands of trees with every blow (literally!) Hot dry summers and long periods of flooding test our trees and many don’t survive.
Consider how much trees help us in our day-to-day routines too!
In the office, think of all the paper we use and all the cardboard our deliveries arrive in. At home, we receive our online purchases (even those from MAJAMAS) in packaging derived from trees, not to mention the countless paper bags and tissue that hold our purchases from the grocery store and small boutiques (especially during Holidays and special occasions)… IT’S A LOT OF PAPER! Even the eco-friendly Cotton Modal fabrics we use at MAJAMAS are derived from tree fibers. We LOVE using a wood-derived fiber as an alternative to plastic and poly, but even though it’s sustainable, recyclable, biodegradable and compostable, it still taxes our natural resources!
It’s so easy to take-take-take in our culture, but we need to start giving back to our environment!
So MAJAMAS is joining forces with One Tree Planted to help our trees! Starting today, with each MAJAMAS purchase, you can opt to donate $1 to plant a new tree. OTP is a non-profit based in Vermont that plants trees and improves forests in Latin America, Africa, Asia, and North America (we want to plant ours right here in the USA)!
As for the bare spot where my once sturdy Maple tree stood? Well, oddly enough, the village left a message on my phone this week to let me know they’d be planting a new one. I’d like to think of it as tree karma…set up a donation program and whala! I get a new tree in my front yard. I know this is mere coincidence (couldn’t have been my constant calling and begging for another one…)
I hope you’ll join MAJAMAS in our mission is to ensure we do our very best to replace a natural resource we are so quickly destroying…and for one dollar per tree? I think that’s the cheapest investment we can make to preserve our planet, don’t you?
Go ahead – click that button when checking out on www.majamas.com and help these beautiful, natural resources flourish so they can help us breathe in return.
“Sustainability made simple!” – One Tree Planted
– Germaine Caprio, Company Owner & Designer
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