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Chapter 3 | What Trees Do
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What Trees Do PLANET P. 23
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PEOPLE P. 24
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POCKETBOOK P. 27
rees are critical green infrastructure; we are only beginning to understand all the
ways that they benefit us, our community, and our environment. They are a truly remarkable technology in that they serve so many different purposes at once. We can plant a tree for any one of a variety of reasons, but that does not impede us from taking advantage of all the other good things that it has to offer. In addition to providing beauty and shade, trees clean our water and our air, sustain the food web that keeps us alive, and fight climate change. They improve our physical and mental health, eliminate urban heat islands, and generate social capital. They improve our home values, lower our energy costs, and help businesses succeed. They even reduce crime and car crashes. These bold claims are all supported by a preponderance of studies and data. The pages ahead attempt to summarize most of the benefits that trees provide. They are sorted into three categories, Planet, People, and Pocketbook, depending on whether the principal impact is to the environment, the community, or to someone’s bottom line.
