Make a Friend, Plant a Tree

jplatt — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 01:00:00 -0400

Everyone loves Facebook for social networking. But how many of you use it to do good?

One way you can enhance your Facebook experience is to add the Tree Planter application from the Arbor Day Foundation. Developed in conjunction with Toyota, the Tree Planter app aims to plant 1 million trees through your participation.

Here's how it works: You add the Tree Planter application to your Facebook profile. For one dollar, you can then send a virtual gift to any of your friends. That one dollar plants a real tree.You can choose from ten different tree species, which will be planted in 11 American forests affected by recent forest fires.

Toyota has pledged the first $50,000 to support the program, which means that the first 50,000 virtual gifts are actually free. Every user gets to give one free tree to a friend until that 50k is used up. After that, it's up to us.

If you're not on Facebook, you can always join (it's free, and fun), or you can just visit the Arbor Day Foundation online to buy a tree on your own.

Plant a Tree for Your Toyota

khallgeisler — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 01:00:00 -0400

Toyota and the Arbor Day Foundation have teamed up to create a new Facebook application that allows users to give real trees to their friends. For $1, Facebook users can use Tree Planter to send a virtual tree to other Facebook users, which becomes a real tree planted by the Arbor Day Foundation in one of eleven national forests.

Sites on the list include Custer National Forest in Montana, Hoosier National Forest in Indiana, and the Huron-Manistee National Forest in Michigan. Many of the forests on the list have been injured by forest fires, and the Tree Planter program hopes to give Mother Nature a hand in becoming healthy again without requiring actual physical labor on the part of Facebookers. Except for that strenuous mouse click.

Toyota is doing its part by purchasing the first $50,000 worth of trees, so 50,000 Facebook users can send a tree to a friend for free. After those are gone, the trees are only a buck a pop, so you can send one to every friend in the 'book.

About this post's title: Does anyone else remember those Arbor Day commercials where John Denver sang, "Plant a treeeeee, for your tomorrow ..."? Or did I spend too much time with my TV and not enough with trees as a kid?