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Arbor Day Foundation to Plant 10 Million Trees to Replace Those Destroyed by Hurricanes Helene and Milton

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02 Jan, 2025

This post was originally published on Eco Watch

The Arbor Day Foundation (ADF) has committed to planting 10 million trees in the next four years to replace those lost in six states impacted by Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

The trees will be planted in forestlands and communities in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia, a press release from ADF said.

“In seeing the devastation of Helene and Milton, we felt a strong pull to make a bold commitment to recovery — and we weren’t alone. We received an outpouring of calls and emails from people eager to help the communities and forests impacted by these storms and we’re proud to be in a position to help make restoration happen,” said Dan Lambe, ADF’s chief executive officer, in the press release. “Human life and safety always take precedence in the wake of a natural disaster, so we don’t rush to replant. We collaborate with our on-the-ground planting partners to know when the time is right. And when they’re ready, we’ll be there with 10 million trees, prepared to put hope in motion.”

The global nonprofit said the precise impact to tree cover caused by the back-to-back hurricanes is still being determined, but it will be the biggest undertaking in ADF’s more than 50-year history, reported The Guardian.

ADF has worked in other areas impacted by storms, most recently with partners in Miami and along the Florida Panhandle and Gulf Coast following Hurricanes Michael and Irma.

“The emotion that you see from people when they get to get a tree, to take home to plant, to be an active part of recovery, bringing life and hope and healing back to their neighborhoods and to their community is inspiring,” Lambe said, as The Guardian reported.

After the most urgent humanitarian needs in the region have been addressed, ADF will collaborate with partners in both the public and private sectors, along with local tree planting organizations, to determine a replanting timeline, the press release said.

“What’s so cool about it is it’s every different part of the community you could imagine, every demographic, every age category. People are just so excited to be contributing to the recovery,” Lambe said, as reported by The Guardian. “And beyond the emotional side of it, in these cities, these communities and these forests, trees are not a nice-to-have, they are a must-have. From extreme heat, from biodiversity challenges, and ecosystem challenges to the just broader resilience and readiness for the next storm, trees just do so much for us. So it’s both an emotional and an environmental recovery, and we’re proud to get to be a part.”

Tampa Bay will be one of the largest focus areas. The region was heavily impacted by the gigantic wind fields of Hurricanes Debby, Milton and Helene.

“I was born and raised here, and I’ve never before seen such devastation, so many trees down,” said Debra Evenson, executive director of environmental organization Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful, one of ADF’s partners, as The Guardian reported. “Just on our property, at our office, we probably had five trees down. The devastation was everywhere. It wasn’t just one specific area, it hit all of Tampa Bay, just thousands and thousands of trees.”

A tree blocks a street after Hurricane Milton swept through downtown Tampa, on Oct. 10, 2024. Kathleen Flynn for the Washington Post

More than 25,000 volunteers will assist with the Tampa Bay area project, with early attention being given to schools, community spaces and lower-income neighborhoods.

“It’s in the community, in people’s homes, where so many were lost. They’re crepe myrtles, live oak and magnolia trees… you don’t really understand everything the trees provide until they’re gone. It’s not just air quality, it’s reducing stormwater runoff, it’s providing shade that regulates temperature. We’re in Florida, it’s 100F sometimes, and it’s like ‘why is my electric bill so high?’ It’s because you’re missing your shade trees now,” Evenson explained.

She said they would also prioritize the replacement of fruit trees in areas that need them.

“We go into areas that are food deserts, where they don’t have the funds to replant these types of big trees that grow and give shade and bear fruit. To them, this is life-changing,” Evenson added.

Lambe said another area of enormous need was historic Asheville, North Carolina, a city torn apart by Helene’s damaging winds and torrential rainfall that led to deadly flooding.

“We’ve already been distributing trees with community leaders there, to neighborhoods that are ready to replant,” Lambe said, as reported by The Guardian. “It was shocking that a community like Asheville was being impacted by a hurricane, and they don’t have a lot of experience with recovery. We’ve been able to take lessons from elsewhere and remind partners that first of all you take an inventory, do an assessment, don’t rush the restoration.”

ADF has helped plant more than half a billion trees all over the world, assisting with recovery efforts following hurricanes, wildfires, tornadoes and floods in more than 60 nations since it began in 1972.

The post Arbor Day Foundation to Plant 10 Million Trees to Replace Those Destroyed by Hurricanes Helene and Milton appeared first on EcoWatch.

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In June, I had the privilege of attending the 2025 E-Waste World, Battery Recycling, Metal Recycling, and ITAD & Circular Electronics Conference & Expo events in Frankfurt, Germany.

Speaking in the ITAD & Circular Electronics track on a panel with global Circular Economy leaders from Foxway Group, ERI and HP, we explored the evolving role of IT asset disposition (ITAD) and opportunities in the circular electronics economy.

The event’s focus on advancing circular economy goals and reducing environmental impact delivered a series of insights and learnings. From this assembly of international expertise across 75+ countries, here are some points from the presentations that stood out for me:

1. Environmental impact of the digital economy

Digitalisation has a heavy material footprint in the production phase, and lifecycle thinking needs to guide every product decision. Consider that 81% of the energy a laptop uses in its lifetime is consumed during manufacture (1 tonne in manufacture is equal to 10,000 tonnes of CO2) and laptops are typically refreshed or replaced by companies every 3–4 years.

From 2018 to 2023, the average number of devices and connections per capita in the world increased by 50% (2.4 to 3.6). In North America (8.2 to 13.4) and Western Europe (5.6 to 9.4), this almost doubled. In 1960, only 10 periodic table elements were used to make phones. In 1990, 27 elements were used and now over 60 elements are used to build the smartphones that we have become so reliant on.

A key challenge is that low-carbon and digital technologies largely compete for the same minerals. Material resource extraction could increase 60% between 2020 and 2060, while demand for lithium, cobalt and graphite is expected to rise by 500% until 2050.

High growth in ICT demand and Internet requires more attention to the environmental footprint of the digital economy. Energy consumption of data centres is expected to more than double by 2026. The electronics industry accounts for over 4% of global GHG — and digitalisation-related waste is growing, with skewed impacts on developing countries.

E-waste is rising five times faster than recycling — 1 tonne of e-waste has a carbon footprint of 2 tonnes. Today’s solution? ‘Bury it or burn it.’ In terms of spent emissions, waste and the costs associated with end-of-life liabilities, PCBAs (printed circuit board assembly) cost us enormously — they generally achieve 3–5% recyclability (75% of CO2 in PCBAs is from components).

2. Regulating circularity in electronics

There is good momentum across jurisdictions in right-to-repair, design and labelling regulations; recycling targets; and voluntary frameworks on circularity and eco-design.

The EU is at the forefront. EU legislation is lifting the ICT aftermarket, providing new opportunities for IT asset disposition (ITAD) businesses. To get a sense, the global market for electronics recycling is estimated to grow from $37 billion to $108 billion (2022–2030). The value of refurbished electronics is estimated to increase from $85.9 billion to $262.2 billion (2022–2032). Strikingly, 40% of companies do not have a formal ITAD strategy in place.

Significantly, the EU is rethinking its Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) management targets, aligned with upcoming circularity and WEEE legislation, as part of efforts to foster the circular economy. A more robust and realistic circularity-driven approach to setting collection targets would better reflect various factors including long lifespans of electronic products and market fluctuations.

Australia and New Zealand lag the EU’s comprehensive e-waste mandated frameworks. The lack of a systematic approach results in environmental degradation and missed positioning opportunities for businesses in the circular economy. While Australia’s Senate inquiry into waste reduction and recycling recommended legislating a full circular economy framework — including for imported and local product design, financial incentives and regulatory enforcement, New Zealand remains the only OECD country without a national scheme to manage e-waste.

3. Extending product lifecycles

Along with data security and digital tools, reuse was a key theme in the ITAD & Circular Electronics track of the conference. The sustainable tech company that I lead, Greenbox, recognises that reuse is the simplest circular strategy. Devices that are still functional undergo refurbishment and are reintroduced into the market, reducing new production need and conserving valuable resources.

Conference presenters highlighted how repair over replacement is being legislated as a right in jurisdictions around the world. Resources are saved, costs are lowered, product life is extended, and people and organisations are empowered to support a greener future. It was pointed out that just 43% of countries have recycling policies, 17% of global waste is formally recycled, and less than 1% of global e-waste is formally repaired and reused.

Right to repair is a rising wave in the circular economy, and legislation is one way that civil society is pushing back on programmed obsolescence. Its global momentum continues at different speeds for different product categories — from the recent EU mandates to multiple US state bills (and some laws) through to repair and reuse steps in India, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

The European Commission’s Joint Research Commission has done a scoping study to identify product groups under the Ecodesign framework that would be most relevant for implementing an EU-wide product reparability scoring system.

Attending this event with the entire electronic waste recycling supply chain — from peers and partners to suppliers and customers — underscored the importance of sharing best practices to address the environmental challenges that increased hardware proliferation and complex related issues are having on the world.

Ross Thompson is Group CEO of sustainability, data management and technology asset lifecycle management market leader Greenbox. With facilities in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, Greenbox Group provides customers all over the world a carbon-neutral supply chain for IT equipment to reduce their carbon footprint by actively managing their environmental, social and governance obligations.

Image credit: iStock.com/Mustafa Ovec

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