What One Tree Can Do For ADD, Crime And Stress

If a tree grows in a city and nobody is there to assess its ancillary benefits to society, is it worth anything?

We can all agree that green, living things like trees, wet lands, green spaces, even flowers, help deal with costly problems like cleaning the air, reducing urban heat island effect, reducing storm-water runoff...and besides, they're pretty!

What folks might not know is that studies from the University of Illinois Landscape and Human Health Laboratory document the positive effects they have on people who see them regularly. They help deal with other costly problems by reducing Attention Deficit Disorder, crime levels, stress in kids and adults, and they increase community pride.

Happy people with good self-esteem generally don't skip school, abuse drugs or alcohol, beat their spouses or commit other crimes. It turns out that people living in areas without trees and other greenery have dramatically higher rates of these and other problems. Trees don't make these problems go away, but they are a piece of the puzzle, and they do play an important role.

So next time you see a tree, don't be corny and hug it, but show your gratitude by making it's life a little easier: if you see any trash around it, pick it up, water it if it hasn't rained for a while, and don't let your dog do its business near it. While you're at it, give it a mental thank you. Okay, maybe that's a little corny, but it's doing a great big job.

Comments

[askmeificare]

I'd rather see what a logging company can turn it into. Maybe a hockey stick, a baseball bat, or maybe even millions of toothpicks.

[degjack]

Trees, greenery and flowers have for most of my life been my salvation. As an adult I seek them every day, and when I can't find them growing naturally I place them near me in vases and soil. They are one of the purest joys of my life.

[OhgReaTone]

Trees are the blessing of my urban life. They are easily sculpted into unique arrangements that raise interest in my neighborhood. The trees absorb the noise of traffic, grant privacy, provide shade, and keep my idle hands busy.
Ohg
http://thefiresidepost.com/2008/01/05/sculpting-with-trees/

[realitytrumpsbull]

Actually, letting your pooch water the tree won't kill it, trees consume what's valuable to them out of the soil, which usually contains biowaste, fertilizers and soil amendments usually contain manure of some kind, plant more greenery because it also helps clean the air, as well as the head.

[Owlygirl]

After my parents divorced we were forced to live on my grandparents property right smack in an urban area. The land was pure development. No trees and all ugly cement. I grew up not knowing why I was so unhappy when on the surface I was being given all the necessities. I remember feeling sad and hostile as I went about my daily trek to school and played around my neighborhood. It wasn't until my 20's when I went to school and started moving around "the world" that it finally hit me. I needed nature. Grass, flowers, trees, birds - all of it! Growing up the smog hid our gorgeous mountains and there was such a deprivation of greenery. I felt so sad that it had not occured to me earlier because so many things would've made better sense to me. There is indeed something to be said growing up around trees. You bet I hug 'em! God bless Mother Earth.

[mckinley]

Hold on there...

Is the causal relation of depression and drug use and spousal abuse *really* because there is less greenery in their neighborhood?

Or is it that such people tend to lack the work ethic, work ability, and job skills that would allow the to afford to live in leafier suburbs?

[NYCBear]

Mmmmm, trees. New York City has planted thousands of trees since the 1970s, and is going to plant thousands more in the next 10 years. It's a much nicer city to live in during the green months now - trees are wonderful.

[GoneGreen]

Studies have shown that trees, and other living things, on school campuses reduce violence, and create a sense of welcome and safety for students -- something often lacking in urban spaces of a certain era.

Check your own city website, they may, like Pasadena, California, have an urban forestry division and there may be many ways to add tree to your cityscape and make it, too, a better place.

-- A California Teacher

[stevesrant]

A good reminder. You forgot the main thing though: green living things make the very air we breathe!

[lamarguerite]

The sad thing is, the landscape of inner city, underprivileged areas is usually marked by the absence of trees. These are the same areas with higher crime and stress related incidents.

Also, children from inner cities rarely have the opportunity to connect with nature. I have had the privilege of mentoring an eight year old girl from East Palo Alto. Until we met, she had never been to the ocean, that is only one hour away. When she comes home from school, she stays home and never ventures outside, because it is not safe.

This is the reality of life for many children in our country.

One of the great initiatives in East Palo Alto last year was a massive tree planting initiatives from Canopy, Palo Alto's urban forest organization.

http://lamarguerite.wordpress.com