GreenCars Plants 5,000 Trees
As part of our Earth Day celebration in April, 2021, GreenCars teamed up with Lithia Motors and the Arbor Day Foundation to plant one tree for every EV test drive completed at participating Lithia stores across the country.
Thanks to the drivers who took advantage of this special event, we are pleased to announce we will be planting 5,000 trees in Florida to rebuild forests devastated by Hurricane Michael in 2018. We believe the small changes we all can make will result in a big difference in the world. Together, we can be the change.
Planting 5,000 Trees
The area of Ecofina Creek, Florida was devastated by Hurricane Michael in 2018, destroying thousands of acres of standing timber. Both the Ecofina Creek and Chipola River watersheds were heavily impacted when the eye of the hurricane passed across the Chipola River pine stands.
Tree restoration to this devastated area will provide forage for game as well as promote natural ground cover, wild flowers and other plants. Animals that are helped by this reforestation project include deer, turkey, bobwhite quail, Sherman’s fox squirrel, and gopher tortoise. Additional benefit is found in area waterways where fish, amphibians, clams and mussels live.
As part of this worthy project, through Lithia Motors, GreenCars and the Arbor Day Foundation planted 5,000 trees.
History of Earth Day
Every year on April 22nd, we celebrate Earth Day, the birth of the modern environmental movement that started in 1970. The brainchild of Senator Gaylord Nelson who was inspired by the protests of the 1960s, Earth Day began as a national teach-in on the environment. April 22nd, 2021 marked the 51st Anniversary of Earth Day. It is the largest secular observance in the world, marked by over a billion people every year as a day of action to change human behavior to create global, national and local policy changes for a cleaner environment for us all.
About the Arbor Day Foundation
Nebraska newspaper editor J. Sterling Morton loved trees. Once he became secretary of the Nebraska Territory, he spread the message of the value of trees by starting Arbor Day. On April 10th, 1872 prizes were offered for the most trees planted and over one million trees were planted in Nebraska on that first Arbor Day. Other states passed legislation to observe Arbor Day and today, this day of tree planting is celebrated in all 50 states. The Arbor Day Foundation represents hope for the future, planting trees for a better tomorrow.
Test Drive an EV, Plant a Tree
Together, GreenCars and the Arbor Day Foundation worked together to plant 5,000 trees to support Bay, Calhoun, and Washington counties, Florida. This year, GreenCars is also putting together a program that will plant a tree for every test drive of an electric car at participating Lithia Auto stores. Watch GreenCars blog for more information on how you can plant a tree for test driving an EV.
The Arbor Day Foundation believes that “trees provide the very necessities of life itself. They clean our air, protect our drinking water, create healthy communities, and feed the human soul. But these life necessities are threatened around the globe. To address this, we’re launching an unprecedented undertaking: the Time for Trees initiative. Together, we can create change … through trees.”
To find out more about what the Arbor Day Foundation is doing or to help plant trees through a donation, visit their site.
