Care for the Earth Tour: The Little Hawk Show

Between January and August 2008, Little Hawk will bring the message of caretaking and celebrating trees to a world ready to listen in Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Europe and North America via the Care for the Earth Tour. Little Hawk is an eloquent moralist and his profound philosophy of caring for the earth is simple enough for children to understand, and comprehensive enough to inform policy. The Care For The Earth Project seeks to educate and empower by exposing the world to Little Hawk’s stories and music. All who hear these stories and witness Little Hawk's musicianship are changed forever.

Care for the Earth is an Ongoing Project

I invite you, one and all, to please join us and participate in "The Care For The Earth Project" in whatever way you can. At the very least, plant some trees and reduce your energy consumption in the home and with your car. Every little bit counts.

We hope our Gatherer Institute message, that "we are caretakers, not only of each other, but of the earth itself," will speed the day when all life is more respected and we can live together in a good way.

Frank Cipriani
Founder & CEO
The Gatherer Institute

TOP 10 REASONS WHY TREES
ARE VALUABLE & IMPORTANT

Trees are important, valuable and necessary to our very existence. It's not too hard to believe that, without trees we humans would not exist on this beautiful planet. In fact, some claim can be made that our mother's and father's ancestors climbed trees - another debate for another site.
Still, trees are essential to life as we know it and are the ground troops on an environmental frontline. Our existing forest and the trees we plant work in tandem to make a better world.

Trees give us so much!

In addition to all the great medicine (such as aspirin from tree bark or medicinal herbs from leaves, twigs, and roots); wood to build houses and furniture; food from the apple, pear, banana and orange trees; and of course all that delicious Maple tree syrup:

1) Trees Produce Oxygen

Let's face it, we could not exist as we do if there were no trees. A mature leafy tree produces as much oxygen in a season as 10 people inhale in a year. What many people don't realize is the forest also acts as a giant filter that cleans the air we breath.

2) Trees Clean the Soil

The term phytoremediation is a fancy word for the absorption of dangerous chemicals and other pollutants that have entered the soil. Trees can either store harmful pollutants or actually change the pollutant into less harmful forms. Trees filter sewage and farm chemicals, reduce the effects of animal wastes, clean roadside spills and clean water runoff into streams.

3) Trees Control Noise Pollution

Trees muffle urban noise almost as effectively as stone walls. Trees, planted at strategic points in a neighborhood or around your house, can abate major noises from freeways and airports.

4) Trees Slow Storm Water Runoff

Flash flooding can be dramatically reduced by a forest or by planting trees. One Colorado blue spruce, either planted or growing wild, can intercept more than 1000 gallons of water annually when fully grown. Underground water-holding aquifers are recharged with this slowing down of water runoff.

5) Trees Are Carbon Sinks

To produce its food, a tree absorbs and locks away carbon dioxide in the wood, roots and leaves. Carbon dioxide is a global warming suspect. A forest is a carbon storage area or a "sink" that can lock up as much carbon as it produces. This locking-up process "stores" carbon as wood and not as an available "greenhouse" gas.

6) Trees Clean the Air

Trees help cleanse the air by intercepting airborne particles, reducing heat, and absorbing such pollutants as carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide. Trees remove this air pollution by lowering air temperature, through respiration, and by retaining particulates.

7) Trees Shade and Cool

Shade resulting in cooling is what a tree is best known for. Shade from trees reduces the need for air conditioning in summer. In winter, trees break the force of winter winds, lowering heating costs. Studies have shown that parts of cities without cooling shade from trees can literally be "heat islands" with temperatures as much as 12 degrees Fahrenheit higher than surrounding areas.

8) Trees Act as Windbreaks

During windy and cold seasons, trees located on the windward side act as windbreaks. A windbreak can lower home heating bills up to 30% and have a significant effect on reducing snow drifts. A reduction in wind can also reduce the drying effect on soil and vegetation behind the windbreak and help keep precious topsoil in place.

9) Trees Fight Soil Erosion

Erosion control has always started with tree and grass planting projects. Tree roots bind the soil and their leaves break the force of wind and rain on soil. Trees fight soil erosion, conserve rainwater and reduce water runoff and sediment deposit after storms.

10) Trees Increase Property Values

Real estate values increase when trees beautify a property or neighborhood. Trees can increase the property value of your home by 15% or more.

by Steve Nix, Forestry Editor, About.com