Good News! 30 Positive Environmental Stories from 2022

This fall and winter, we'll be planting over 900,000 oyamel pine and native evergreen trees for Monarch butterflies in Mexico. These forests provide the unique climate and shelter that eastern monarch butterflies need after their approximately 3,000 mile migration south. In fact, the size of the eastern migratory population is measured by the number of hectares of oyamel fir and native pine forest that they occupy. Here, they rest and conserve their energy over the winter months, until seasonal changes trigger a new migration back north to lay eggs and start the cycle anew.

In partnership with AstraZeneca, the Global EverGreening Alliance and Greening Australia, we will plant 25 million trees across Australia by 2025. One of the largest-ever privately funded restoration projects in the country, it will cover approximately 20,000 hectares of land. That's equivalent to one-quarter of the city of Canberra in size, and will create habitat for dozens of endangered species. Establishing the 25 million trees will also sequester approximately 4.25 million tonnes of carbon dioxide over a 25-year crediting period, equivalent to the emissions produced by 920,000 cars running for an entire year.

Research has shown that a decentralized, global seed bank network would drastically improve restoration, preserve threatened plant species, sustainably expand native seed supply systems and benefit local communities. Some key findings include: there are currently 410 seed banks across 96 countries that store native species, but more are needed in almost all countries. Establishing larger regional seed banks could help meet the need for seeds more efficiently. While the United States, Australia, Brazil and China have the most seed banks, they also need the most new seed banks to meet their restoration potential over the next decade. This alliance will focus on seed supply and connecting forestry groups with the funding they need!

Cave explorers recently found a giant sinkhole deep within a forest in China — and inside the sinkhole, they discovered a hidden forest! The sinkhole has been measured at approximately 5 million square meters and contains 3 undiscovered caves. Researchers believe that in addition to the 130 foot tall trees, there may be undiscovered plant and animal species among the underbrush. 

Despite ongoing challenges like local lockdowns and restrictions on movement, our amazing on-ground partner planted a total of 1,533,930 fruit trees to restore 1,553 hectares of land in India last year. The plantings were distributed across the states of Uttar Pradesh, Madya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand, India. We also built nurseries in strategic areas of Haryana to reduce transportation costs and improve seedling acclimatization. As the trees grow, they'll help alleviate hunger and poverty while fighting pollution and climate change across rural India. 

In collaboration with Green Forests Work, One Tree Planted is reforesting about 800 acres of formerly mined lands in Pennsylvania, and we expect this area to sequester about 80,000 metric tons of CO2 after 50 years. This work is collaborative and brings many different organizations and interests together. The Appalachian region has some of the richest temperate forests in the world. Coal mining has been an economic driver since the 1700's and 1800’s, but has wrought major impacts on the environment and local communities, including habitat loss, water and air pollution, and safety issues. This initiative will help bring life back to degraded land. 

Introducing: The Grove! We've been working behind the scenes for some time now, and we're so excited to share this with you. The Grove is exactly what it sounds like: a special group of individuals that are passionate about giving back to the environment through a monthly giving program. And just like the trees that form a grove in nature, their support helps restore ecosystems for biodiversity, empower communities, rebuild after fires and floods, restore degraded areas, and more. 

Our fifth annual Plant a Tree Day fell on Wednesday, September 28th, but planting took place through 104 events in 29 countries throughout the fall planting season. Now that all of the events have wrapped up, we're proud to share everything that our partners and volunteers have accomplished through Plant a Tree Day 2022! To recap: We supported 104 events in 29 countries! 6,091 volunteers were engaged.Nearly half (3,090) of these were youth volunteers. We planted a total of 39,558 trees and 6,144 shrubs. We also propagated 1,980 seeds and distributed 7,450 trees to local communities. We worked with 91 on the ground partners.

Our national mammal, the bison, was nearly hunted to extinction in the early 1800s. As a keystone species, bison help create habitat on the Great Plains for many species, including grassland birds. As they forage, they aerate the soil with their hooves, which aids in plant growth, and native seed dispersal. Bison restoration helps secure the food supply of Indigenous People of the plains. According to South Dakota State University, “In rural Native American communities, poverty is two to three times higher than in white rural communities, and, despite much of the grasslands being used for agriculture, Native Americans are twice as likely to be food insecure than white people and are 25% more likely to remain food insecure in the future.” 

At one time, the European mink (Mustela lutreola), could be found almost everywhere in Europe. However, populations dwindled over time, and scientists have found it difficult to pin down exactly what caused their disappearance. In an effort to re-populate, captive minks were bred on Hiimuaa island, separated from other species of mink. It took a while for the reintroduction to become successful but the numbers have stabilized to around 160-250 minks populating Hiiumaa in autumn!

While we can think of a few nature-based solutions (planting trees, anyone?) that absorb carbon and filter air pollutants, researchers have developed a new concept that would not only convert carbon dioxide into clean air and sustainable fuels, but would also not produce any waste. Much of the current renewable energy sources can come at a wasteful cost, but new research has improved fuel production efficiency by up to 18X in a laboratory setting, proving that this process can be replicated. Cambridge researchers worked in partnership with a team from the Universidade Nova de Lisboa in Portugal to improve efficiency through electrolysis and enzymes. Long and confusing story short, technology might be catching up with nature to combat climate change! 

After 89 years of dependence on generators, Rhode Island's iconic Block Island fell silent in May of 2017. In the years since the shut down, the island has shifted to wind power. Due to demand by opponents of windmills, studies were conducted to ensure the safety of marine life. The result? Marine life improved and the turbines were determined not a hazard. After 5 years of clean energy, the community of Block Island is proud of their shift to renewable energy, and the legacy they will leave behind.

Renewable energy is on the rise, and many people are trying to become more environmentally friendly in their own homes and businesses. Solar panels on your rooftop are now the best choice for clean energy, but there’s currently a rooftop wind device on the rise that could be a game changer for homes and businesses. Aeromine is a bladeless wind device that sits on a rooftop. Because it’s bladeless, this device is safer for birds and significantly quieter than wind turbines. This device can be paired with solar panels to achieve full energy efficiency and independence!

History was made with the Inflation Reduction Act, which will invest approximately $437 billion dollars into climate change and energy security. While this bill has been in the works for over a year, it was necessary to restructure it on both sides of the aisle in order to pass it. $60 billion will be put towards communities and environmental justice, and it aims to cut down on the country’s carbon emissions by 2030. 

Washington is leading the way towards a greener future by becoming the first state to require new buildings' to be equipped with all-electric space heating and hot water systems. Under this revised energy code, most new commercial and multi-family homes will need to install electric heat pumps. These pumps are an extremely energy-efficient technology that can extract heat from the outside air and pump it inside to provide space heating (even on very cold days). They're also able to run in reverse and provide cooling during the summer. Pretty amazing if you ask us!

Starting on May 1st, 2023, restaurants, stores and other establishments in unincorporated areas of LA county will be restricted from using single-use plastic. As of now, the county is the largest government entity that has taken action against single use plastic food ware. The thousands of restaurants serving nearly 1 million people have been given a year to comply, and will be subject to fines of up to $1000/year if they don't. This is a major win for marine and human health, and we hope that other counties will follow suit! 

The EU is proposing a shift towards electric vehicles via a ban that will effectively cut sales of gas-powered vehicles by 100% from 2035. This timeline has been set to accommodate new cars that are hitting the roads this year, and will likely last up to 15 years. The official vote will occur in the next few months, after which individual countries will set their own standards. To support this measure, additional charging stations will be installed across the EU.

Oslo is ahead of the curve when it comes to public transportation. Norway’s capital city is well on the way to becoming the first with all-electric public transportation. That means, no more diesel buses! This eco-friendly switch will also help reduce noise and air pollution throughout the city, improving the community for people to enjoy for years to come. As a global leader for clean transit, Oslo is inspiring cities around the world, showing them that clean transportation can happen!

On Earth Day, 799 people from 12 different organizations joined together to break a world record! For 20 seconds, all 799 participants simultaneously watered individual plants while live on The Today Show — earning them world record for most people watering plants simultaneously. The One Tree Planted team was proud to account for 62 of those world record breakers!llll