We apologize for the poor organization of the below posts, but this was the only way we could transfer them from an old blog to this new one.
White Christmas!
Dec 25, 2009
This year Tulsa had it's first white Christmas in 7 years. It snowed about 6 inches last night and this morning. Instead of building a snowman, we thought we would build a polar bear in remembrance of the Tulsa Zoo's beloved polar bear Kavek, who passed away May of 2009.
Recognition From Tulsa Housing Authority
Dec 21, 2009
We recently received two documents in which Tulsa Housing Authority praised our accomplishments.
This is the letter that THA wrote about our project involving their housing locations.
This is a page from the 29 page presentation about our tree plantings on their properties. The Tulsa Housing Authority passed the booklet out at their recent Board of Directors meeting.
Meetings Galore!
Dec 21, 2009
Last friday we met for the second time this week. We assigned parts of the final report for each team member to accomplish. It was a very productive meeting and we plan to submit the final report very soon.
Holy Cow!
Dec 16, 2009
IF A COW GIVES YOU MANURE MAKE ELECTRICITY!
Environmental talks continue in Copenhagen. The U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said they have come to an agreement with the American Dairy Industry to reduce greenhouse emissions, that are given off by the manure, 25 percent by 2020. The farmers would capture the methane from cow manure that otherwise would be released into the atmosphere. Farmers would use a anaerobic digester to convert the cow manure into electricity. Agriculture makes up 7 percent of the greenhouse emissions in the United States.
More Press!
Dec 15, 2009
We were mentioned in our school magazine publication twice! This magazine is distributed to all current families and all alumni. It even listed the link to our blog, so we can potentially educate even more people. This publication is mailed to 5,500 households.
Cub Scouts Plant Trees at their School
Dec 15, 2009
On Saturday December 12th, we helped Cub Scouts from Riverfield Country Day School plant trees on their school campus. They planted the trees around their new football field. We explained to them how planting trees here in Tulsa, Oklahoma will help the Polar Bears up North. They were excited to be doing something to help our environment! Unfortunately, the majority of the rest of the pack left for a school basketball game before we had the chance to take a picture.
Climate Talks in Copenhagen
Dec 12, 2009
Climate Talks Move Forward in Copenhagen
Countries from around the world have been meeting this week in Copenhagen trying to come up with a plan to reduce the World's carbon emmissions. A draft has been made. It says all countries together should reduce emisssions by a range of 50 percent to 95 percent by 2050, and rich countries should cut emissions by 25 to 40 percent by 2020, in both cases using 1990 as the baseline year.
It has taken years to get to this point. While this plan is not without fault, it is a step in the right direction. The draft highlighted the broad goals the world must achieve to avoid irreversible change in climate that scientists say could bring many species to extinction and cause upheavals around the globe.
One species that is in danger, is the Polar Bear. Did you know that in our lifetime, without something changing there will be no more Polar Bears in the wild? The ice is their hunting grounds, and it is melting!
Meeting and Planning
Dec 06, 2009
Yesterday we met to discuss our plans through the end of the year. Next Saturday we will be planting trees with a local Cub Scout troop. We will be teaching them of the importance of trees and how planting trees in Tulsa, Oklahoma can help save the polar bears thousands of miles north of here.
We took a look at the requirements for the PBI final report and have begun to work on it.
A newspaper article about GreenTree of Tulsa has been written and will appear in the paper soon!
Ban The Book!
Dec 06, 2009
In the past few days after we received our third new phonebook this fall, we thought of a new project. We are going to try to convince the local phonebook companies to cut down their production of these monster sized books. However, we realize that the three plus companies in town that distribute phonebooks use them as a way to sell advertising and they are a large revenue source. Our plan is to send them a letter asking them to offer a easy recycling program. Our idea is when the phonebooks are delivered to your front door, the deliverer will ring the doorbell and ask the homeowner if they have any old phonebooks they would like to recycle. Then the company will recycle the books they collected. We did a quick survey of friends and family and found many no longer even use their phone books. They find it just as easy to use the internet to find what they are looking for. As you may have seen in an earlier post, recycling phonebooks saves a ton of energy and trees.
Change to energy saving fluorescent bulbs
Dec 01, 2009
If every home replaced one light bulb with an energy saving bulb it would save:
* Enough energy to light 3 million homes for a year.
*$600 million in energy costs
*Greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of more than 800,000 cars
Tulsa Housing Authority Planting
Nov 25, 2009
Today we went and finished planting the last of the 375 trees that we gave to the Tulsa Housing Authority. The trees were planted at several of their sites. It is a proven fact that a view of trees reduces the crime rate in an urban area. This is a great accomplishment not only because these trees will absorb thousands of pounds of co2 in their lifetime, but also because we are beautifying less fortunate parts of our town.
Plant those trees!
Nov 24, 2009
An average tree absorbs 300 lbs. of Co2 a year. Every 6 trees clean enough Co2 to fill up a football stadium each year.
Don't let your car idle!
Nov 23, 2009
5 minutes of idling (leaving your car running while it is parked) results in 220 -440 lbs of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere a year.
Trees improve the economy
Nov 22, 2009
Sales at businesses on tree-lined streets are 12 percent higher. Shoppers are willing to pay 11 percent more for goods on pleasing tree-lined streets,
Tree Planting
Nov 21, 2009
Today we helped plant 27 large trees at Mohawk Park. This is a large city park that lost many trees during a devastating ice storm in December 2007. Tulsa Mayor, Kathy Taylor, spoke at the event. These trees bring our total trees planted to 1,102!
Recycle your phone books!
Nov 21, 2009
For every 500 phonebooks that are recylced it saves:
* 7,000 gallons of water
* 3.3 cubic yards in a landfill
* about 25 trees
* 4,100 kilowatts of electricity (enough to power a home for 6 months)
Tulsa, Oklahoma (our city), was the first city to start a phone book recycling program.
Phone books can be recycled in Tulsa until December 22nd at the following locations:
1502 W. 51st St.
3720A E. Admiral Pl.
12466 E. 21st St.
2019 E. 81st ST.
3945 S. Sheridan Road
Phone books are accepted all year at the MET's central drop-off station in the 3500 block of S. Sheridan Road.
Environmental Fact
Nov 19, 2009
Unless something is done to stop global warming/climate change, in your lifetime there will be no more Polar Bears in the wild!
Fact of the Day
Nov 19, 2009
One acre of trees provides oxygen for 18 people. The acre of trees will absorb the amount of carbon dioxide each year equivalent to that produced by a car driven 26,000 miles.
Fact for the Day
Nov 18, 2009
Trees reduce carbon emissions from our atmosphere while producing oxygen. As the tree grows it is possible that it could provide enough oxygen needed to sustain one human life.
Kids Planting Trees!
Nov 17, 2009
This is a picture of one of the girls that attended our presentation. This picture was graciously emailed to us by her parents.
Exposure!
Nov 17, 2009
When our school heard of our project to help save the polar bears by planting trees, they were so excited that they posted an article on their website. If you want to check it out here is the link and below that is a picture of the site:
http://www.hollandhall.org/?p=hh_news&NewsId=1344
Advice from a Tree
Nov 15, 2009
* Stand Tall and Proud
* Sink your roots into the Earth
* Go out on a limb
* Remember your roots
* Drink plenty of water
* Be content with your natural beauty
* Enjoy the view
The last of the trees...
Nov 14, 2009
We will be done planting the rest of our trees by this Wednesday. We will be going out to one of Tulsa Housing Authority's many sites (which are similar to government housing) to plant 100 trees. After all of the trees are in the ground we will shift our focus to educating kids, parents, and teachers about trees and the environment. So far we have been able to reach around 750 people through our presentations and tree handouts. We have also created an educational group on Facebook which will help us reach hundreds of people.
Another GTOT meeting
Nov 14, 2009
Today our group met to discuss the project. We are planning our planting date for the Tulsa Housing Authority planting. We are close to wrapping up the planting part of our project and beginning the education part. We have a few possible presentations that we will hold during the next month.
Tree Planting at our school
Nov 12, 2009
Today we had the 8th grade science classes help us plant the 100 trees we acquired from the Apache Grant. The trees were planted on our school's campus. Not only will these trees help our environment by absorbing carbon dioxide, they also will make our campus more beautiful.
Our Primary School Presentation
Nov 02, 2009
Today our group went to the Primary School to teach the kids about global warming and how it affects the polar bears. We gave them many tips on how to help, including recycling, carpooling, and of course planting trees! We told the kids of all the benefits trees provide and gave them each 2 saplings to take home. One of the trees is to plant in their own yard, and the other is to give to a friend or neighbor. This way we are able to educate twice the amount of people. They were VERY excited to help save the polar bears.
This is a photo of all the kids promising to plant their trees and follow the environmental tips we gave them.
Mike delivering some saplings to a classroom.
Our official logo!
Nov 02, 2009
We have had this for around a month now, but we have just figured out how to post it on our blog.
Saplings info cards
Oct 31, 2009
Here are the info cards that we attached to the 600 saplings.
Saplings!
Oct 31, 2009
The saplings have arrived, and sorting has begun!
Oct 31, 2009
Today we met for the first time since our 600 Loblolly pine saplings arrived. We spent the majority of the meeting taping and rubber-banding pamphlets and fliers onto them. Each primary school student will receive 2 saplings, one to plant themselves and the other to give to a friend or neighbor. We also discussed pickup-up dates for our 200 4-6 foot trees. Those 200 trees will be planted in Government Housing areas.
We will be distributing the saplings this Monday during our presentation to approximately 300 students + faculty. We will be educating them on the "plight" of the polar bears, and what they can do to help. We will explain how planting trees in Oklahoma can help polar bears thousands of miles away.
Tons of trees, and thats only from 1 semi!
Oct 31, 2009
Unloading Oak Trees
Oct 31, 2009
Unloading Trees
Oct 31, 2009
Semi-Trucks Full of Trees
Oct 31, 2009
The Trees are Here!!!!
Oct 28, 2009
Today 6 semi-trucks arrived carrying thousands of trees for Up With Trees. Up With Trees then distributes them to local organizations who were aproved during the application process. We will receive 200+ 6 foot trees off those trucks. Today Connor took a few volunteers with him to help unload the trucks. We plan to pick up our own trees in the next few days.
Meetings, lots of meetings
Oct 28, 2009
During the last few weeks our GreenTree team has been meeting 2-3 times a week. There is lots to be done, and it is crunch time. Everything is happening at once! We have our Primary School presentation date set for Monday, November 2nd and we have our presentation ready.
Autumn progress
Oct 22, 2009
Things are beginning to come together. Trees have been ordered, and we're set to break ground. The details should be established early next week. The primary school presentation is set for Monday November 2nd. The weather seems to be getting colder, and we need to get our little ones planting soon.
Trees are coming!!
Oct 07, 2009
We now officially have 800 trees. 600 of which are going to be distributed in the Primary School (Grades Kindergarden- 3rd grade). Each student will get two trees. One to plant at their house, and one to give to a neighbor or friend to plant at their house. This will result in new trees being planted throughout the city.
The other 200 trees will be planted on our school's campus and at government housing locations throughout the city.
It's All Downhill From Here...
Oct 05, 2009
We have finally acquired our trees!!
Due to generous donations from Up With Trees and the Oklahoma Forestry Service we have access to 800+ trees.
We will be planting our large trees at Government owned housing developments. Not only will these trees reduce the Co2 in the air, they will also help beautify these low-income areas. We have scouted 17 potential sites and have narrowed it down to 8 possible areas in which we plan to plant.
Moving Forward
Sep 14, 2009
We're still pursuing our lead with Up With Trees, and they've told us that they'd be happy to supply us with decent-sized trees to plant on city property. We hope to look in to planting trees near the water treatment plant, public housing, and possibly at the zoo as a way to spread the word of our plan to reforest Tulsa.
We're on a roll, but finding saplings continues to be a struggle for us. We've found several places that would be glad to help us, but can't supply them until April.
We'll be sure to post a graph soon of the effect that our proposed plantings would have on the CO2 in the atmosphere. Our plan seems to be progressing nicely as a whole.
Looking Back
Sep 08, 2009
GreenTree has finally made it over the hump. We have secured our Trees and have several areas we are contemplating planting them. In the past month and a half, our group has done the following:
Created an enviormental organization
Met with executives of large companies
Sent over 20 emails and letters to possible tree donors in over 4 states.
Created several plans and agendas
Greatly influenced kids at our school just by what we have been doing
and lots more!!!!
We plan to continue all these great things even years after project polar bear is over. Our plan is to incorporate our organization into the school and form a club like group where we will continue to plant trees every spring and fall. With any luck we will be able to model our organization after other local tree groups and become one of Tulsa's tree planting super-powers.
At Up With Tree's new office
Sep 05, 2009
Outside Up With Trees
Sep 05, 2009
In The conference room of Up With Trees
Sep 05, 2009
Meeting With Up With Trees
Aug 30, 2009
By Connor Cass
Last Friday, Mike, Caroline, and I met with the Operations director of Up With Trees, Steve Grantham and the Outreach & Volunteer Coordinator, April Woodul. The Executive Director, Anna America, was unable to attend. We went to their new office and talked in their nice conference room. Not only did we learn new things about how Up With Trees operates, but we also learned that they are more than willing to help us. They are for sure able to provide large trees for one of our projects, and are trying their best to find saplings to give us. They also offered us the opportunity to partner with them in their Neighborwoods program which kicks off in October. We are extremely grateful for their help in our efforts to reforest Tulsa!
Meetings!
Aug 27, 2009
Tomorrow, Friday the 28th, we are meeting with the executives of Up With Trees. Up With Trees is the large non-profit organization that is big on planting trees all around Tulsa and surrounding areas. Hopefully they will be able to help us in our efforts to make Tulsa a better and greener town to live in.
Monday, August 17th
Aug 17, 2009
GreenTree of Tulsa
After sending 15 letters to different tree organizations , on August 15th, Connor Cass recieved three e-mails from different tree organizations including the Arbor Day Foundation, Up With Trees, and Alliance for Community Trees. The executives of Up With Trees would like to set up a meeting with the three of us. The Alliance for Community Trees are willing to try to help us. We are still trying to set up a meeting with our school's headmaster to inform him of our plan to distribute the saplings. We have designed a logo for our group and it will be posted soon. Today we are working on blog posts, writing a mission statement (our goal, where we will start, and a timeline of getting/distributing trees) to present to our headmaster, planning one thing for each of us to do before our next meeting, and setting up an official calendar for our meetings. Although off to a slow start, we have finally sped up and will hopefully be twice as productive our next meeting!!
