A simple and practical way to give back to Mother Earth is to grow something out of love and plant it in the ground, or keep it in a pot at home. By planting, we are shaping a greener world, creating habitats for wildlife, nourishing the soil, filtering the air, enhancing human health, and mitigating the effects of climate change. We also reinforce our own connection with Mother Earth and offer a lasting legacy that will continue to benefit future generations.
There’s nothing more inspiring than seeing people take action to make a positive impact on their environment. Enjoy these stories of how our Tree Heroes are making a difference in their community.
Ankisha Rana, Shiv Singhal and Bhawana Mittal from Delhi, India recently led a community service project with three objectives: to honour Mother Earth and plants, create awareness about the Love Peace Harmony Movement, and contribute to a solution to purify toxic air in homes. Delhi is currently the most polluted city in the world, surpassing Beijing.
They gathered people in their community and distributed 100 house plants. The Peace Lily was chosen because it breaks down and neutralizes toxic gases like benzene, formaldehyde, and carbon monoxide. Research conducted by NASA found the Peace Lily to be one of the top indoor plants for cleaning air.
They gifted the Peace Lilies tagged "My Love Peace Harmony Plant" during Holi (also known as the Festival of Colour), an Indian and Nepali spring festival celebrated across the Indian subcontinent.
In collaboration with an organization called Grow Trees in Mumbai, Sarosh Buhariwala and Aayishah Kondkar contributed to the planting of 142 trees in a poor tribal area in the state of Maharashtra.
Sarosh was honored to receive a certificate from Grow Trees in appreciation of their donation to support the planting of the trees.
Doug Farrar is growing approximately 1,000 papaya trees from seed in the backyard of his home in Kaneohe on the island of Oʻahu, Hawaii. He has committed to grow over 9,000 more papaya trees in the next year. Doug’s friend Kawehi has helped him to plant and contribute to the operation. They started all the plants from non-GMO solo papayas that came from the Big Island, Hawaii and were acquired at a local farmer’s market.
Doug and Kawehi plan to distribute the papaya trees through friends and family around the island. They will also plant a number of trees on different trails and areas to eventually feed people on the island of O’ahu. Papaya trees take approximately one year to bear fruit when grown from seed.
Rotary is a global network of neighbors, friends and problem-solvers who share ideas, join leaders and take action to create lasting change. Through Rotary Clubs, people from all continents and cultures come together to exchange ideas, and form friendships and professional connections while making a difference in their backyards and around the world. Rotarians are improving lives in communities around the world every day through thousands of service projects.
Santa Barbara Earth Day Festival
On April 21–22, the Community Environmental Council (CEC) hosted the Santa Barbara Earth Day Festival at Almeda Park. The Festival provided a space for over 30,000 people to gather together as a community to give thanks for our beautiful planet and continue the healing process as they deal with the devastation brought on by the wildfires, flooding and mudslides in their region.
Love Peace Harmony Foundation has partnered with Rotary to plant trees in the areas damaged earlier this year and to raise awareness of the need to love and care for our environment. Together they staffed a booth at the Festival to promote the Plant A Million campaign and recruited many people to assist with a tree planting initiative to be held on Saturday, May 12 in the Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties. Currently, the confirmed tree planting locations are in the Carpinteria Creek, Ventura Botanical Gardens, Ventura Land Trust, Ojai Land Trust, and Las Padres National Forest.
Tree Planting Day at Carpinteria Creek, May 12
Love Peace Harmony Foundation and Rotary International planted approximately 120 native trees on the mud-caked banks of Carpinteria Creek on Saturday, May 12. These trees help to re-establish the vegetation destroyed by the wildfires and mudslides in the area this past winter. The Boy Scouts were also there to help. Love Peace Harmony's Plant A Million program got a good boost in the process. All the planters got a workout and the satisfaction of making a difference. All in all it was a fabulous way to spend Saturday.
Tarayana Foundation believes in maximizing happiness and harmony among all Bhutanese people by providing opportunities for life improvement to the vulnerable communities in Bhutan. By helping community members learn and integrate new skills, the Foundation promotes self-empowerment and the importance of serving each other. The Foundation works in remote, rural villages to bring about holistic community growth and development serving the needy communities.
About 70 per cent of Bhutan is forested and 40% of this is protected. A significant proportion of the population depends on forests for timber, fuel wood and non-timber forest products. To protect forests, the government is promoting community forestry and the establishment of fuel wood plantations in degraded areas.
With much of Bhutan too steep, too high or too cold to farm, only 8 per cent of land is cultivable, and most of this is fragmented and scattered in difficult terrain. About 70 per cent of the population live in rural areas and most depend on subsistence agriculture, including livestock and forestry. About 28 per cent of rural households own orchards.
Fruit saplings were supplied to 72 households of Rookha, Samthang, Migthana , Kishchigo, Lamga, Lawa and Thaphu villages under Wangdue Phodrang Dzongkhag, with support from Love Peace Harmony Foundation.
A total of 1,885 have been planted by the villagers. This tree planting initiative will eventually provide fruits and nuts to households in these small hamlets and neighbouring villages.
Stroud Water Research Center seeks to advance knowledge and stewardship of freshwater systems through global research, education, and restoration and to help businesses, landowners, policymakers, and individuals make informed decisions that affect water quality and availability around the world.
Since 1982, Stroud Water Research Center employees and volunteers have helped plant hundreds of thousands of trees in Pennsylvania, beautifying the landscape while restoring and preserving water quality. Every tree we plant plays a vital role by providing a natural buffer zone between our land use and the stream it protects. Each tree helps prevent pollutants from entering our freshwater systems and provides lasting benefits of shade, beauty, and the natural habitat essential to a healthy ecosystem. We pledge to plant 2,000 trees and will host one or two tree plantings in the fall of 2018 and one or two tree plantings in the spring of 2019.
Mālama Learning Center (MLC) is a non-profit organization with a mission to teach and inspire communities to create healthy living environments. They bring art, science, conservation, and culture together to promote sustainable living throughout Hawai‘i.
Mālama Learning Center is the result of a shared vision among educators, conservation groups, businesses, and community members to create an innovative learning center in Kapolei. They have created many programs, most in partnership with other groups as that is the way they work and the best way they can be most effective at reaching a wide audience for the long-term. Through these partnerships, they reach thousands of students, teachers, and community members every year.
The Mālama Learning Center’s programs offer hands-on learning opportunities for youth and adults. Participants gain real-life experience with innovations that integrate culture and tradition with technology and science. By actively engaging area residents in nurturing each other and their environment, they strive to unify West O‘ahu around a shared ethic of caring and conservation.
Planting Day with Master Sha
On March 12, Master Sha and several representatives of the Love Peace Harmony Foundation and Plant A Million project united with Pauline Sato, co-founder and executive director of Mālama Learning Center in West O’ahu, and her team to plant trees at Camp Pālehua to commemorate their joint dedication to restoring the earth and nurturing the environment.
On March 16 and 17, Master Sha hosted a museum-style exhibition showcasing a collection of his Tao Calligraphies. Master Sha generously donated the proceeds from these events to the Mālama Learning Center, adding to Love Peace Harmony Foundation’s partnership with the county of Honolulu to plant trees to cover 35% of Oahu by 2035.
This partnership will help reforest the watershed and educate students with hands-on experience about their heritage, nature, local replanting efforts, and how to succeed in school and life.
