CHARLOTTE, N.C. — TreesCharlotte was established in 2012 in order to preserve and grow Charlotte’s tree canopy.
"Our mission is to grow steward and diversify our iconic urban forest, as well as to educate citizens on the values of trees and how to care for them," Executive Director of TreesCharlotte, Jane Singleton Myers, said.
She said, in 10 years, the organization has helped plant more than 40,000 trees.
"Going into this planting season we had planted and distributed 43,000 trees for the city of Charlotte," she said. "This season, we will get about 5,700 more added to that bottom number. So that's pretty exciting. We're looking I guess we'll get to 50,000 by the time we get to our anniversary of our first planting in 2023."
These trees they plant are helping to sustain Charlotte's tree canopy. Right now, the canopy is at 45%. That's down from 49% in 2012. Singleton Myers said we're losing about 100,000 trees every year. About 65% of that loss occurred in single-family residential areas. The City of Charlotte's goal is to have 50% tree canopy by 2050.
To help build the tree canopy, TreesCharlotte has tree giveaways throughout the year. Their next one is Friday, March 18. That one is sold out, but they are having another one on Friday, March 26. Registration will open on their website at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, March 22. Each Charlotte address/household can get up to two trees.
Singleton Myers said while trees not only make your property look good, they have a lot more benefits.
“I think it's important to understand all the ways trees benefit us from mental health, physical health, from purifying our air, absorbing stormwater drain off," she said. "There are studies that show they reduce violence in communities, they reduce stress when people are driving down the road."
Dr. Joseph Sexton, the Chief Scientist and Co-Founder of terraPulse said trees can really help you out in the summer as well.
"Inside cities, they mitigate the urban heat island," Sexton said. "So pavement buildings turn sunlight into heat. Planting trees inside the city, one, shades the pavement from the sunlight and two, the evaporation or technically the transpiration from the tree leaves has a cooling effect. So the city neighborhoods that have more tree canopies end up being cooler in the summer than the ones without."
Wake Up Charlotte To Go is a daily news and weather podcast you can listen to so you can start your day with the team at Wake Up Charlotte.
SUBSCRIBE: Apple Podcasts || Spotify || Stitcher || TuneIn || Google Podcasts
All of WCNC Charlotte's podcasts are free and available for both streaming and download. You can listen now on Android, iPhone, Amazon, and other internet-connected devices. Join us from North Carolina, South Carolina, or on the go anywhere.