Ladies & Gents! You just added another 215 trees to planet Earth, thanks to your ongoing Showcase Workshop usage from 1 May through 31 July.
During this period, you viewed 1,832,396 'pages', or slides in Showcase, saving approximately 3655 reams of standard office paper in the process.
This brings our running total to 1,392 trees planted, and approximately 23,664 reams of office paper not used.
But wait! There's free stuff!
New Zealand's country-wide ban on single-use plastic bags came into effect on July 1, 2019.
We were about to print a new run of our Forest Releaf Fund t-shirts, when Rhiana was struck by the delightful idea that perhaps we could mark this auspicious environmental occasion with totes bags instead of tees. Yes, she's more than a pretty face that one.
We collaborated with our friend and illustrator Cynthia Oswald to produce this custom design with our trade-marked stolen from the internet theme: 'May the Forest Be With You'
Would you like one?
Yes, I thought you would.
They're currently in production but if you send me an email with your postal address, I'll make sure you get one as soon as the ink is dry. We'll post them anywhere in the world, even if your government hasn't ruled out plastic yet - so don't be shy.
Other In-tree-guing Stories
I tend to spend a few hours each month in the more botanically inclined corners of the internet. I thought it might be fun to share a few of the best stories with you here in my quarterly funding update.
A great article in The Guardian about the potential of trees to help us tackle climate change includes this rather juicy statement: "Planting billions of trees across the world is by far the biggest and cheapest way to tackle the climate crisis." As someone known for their love of trees and economy, this certainly appeals.
And how can we plant all of these trees? Tree planting drones of course! Here's a cool 3D model of how it can be done.
Drama and intrigue below the forest floor: By podcast standards, this one from 2016 is rather old, but it was brand new to my ears. I promise, after these 34 minutes you'll never look at nature the same way again.
Apples and Mangroves: It came as news to me that mangrove forests can absorb and store up to 10 times more carbon than a terrestrial forest. Impressive. As part of Apple's effort to balance their emissions, they're helping to protect almost 30,000-acre of mangrove in Colombia.
The next time you need to fill the tank with gas - and if you're a resident of California, Washington, Oregon, or Wisconsin - keep an eye out for a handy 7-Eleven and take part in their new program Pump Here. Plant Trees. For every gallon of gasoline you purchase, they'll invest in a local green-scape, reforestation, wildlife protection, or renewable energy project.
Lastly, a highlight from my own personal newsreel. Here I am on my second visit to Redwoods National Park in Northern California in July - this is the place that helped spark the Forest Releaf Fund. I'll never get sick of the scale of these beautiful trees.
