theparkerfamily.org » Plant a Billion Trees

plant a billion lights

evancparker — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 22:54:16 +0000

I’ve never seen my name in lights, but maybe this is the next best thing … this week, someone donated space on the billboards that surround times square to the plant a billion trees campaign.

(that’s the nature conservancy’s tree planting effort in the brazillian rain forest that I raised money for last earth day — and helped launch as part of my day job.)

I haven’t heard anything about who the donor was, or how they chose us, but it’s fantastic to see such an important cause get the recognition (imho) it so richly deserves.

earth day 2008: done, done aaaaand done

evancparker — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 03:13:27 +0000

happy arbor day!

well, i made my goal to plant 200 trees thanks in large part to a late flurry of my former hippie co-workers. (former => co-workers, they are all still hippies.)

a big thank you to everyone who donated … you helped a great cause that i truly believe in, and have helped me do something (personal fund raising) i have never, ever done before.

with that in mind, i gotta say … these last 3 weeks have really changed my world view on how to raise money.

first, i have a new found respect for the people I know who raise lots of money for hikes, walks and such. it isn’t easy to sell your friends and family on a cause, even one you love … and I was only looking for $200. i can’t imagine fund raising for a $3,000 walk.

second, as someone who does online fundraising for a living, i’ve been to tons of conferences where people sell this type of “friends-asking-friends” as the future of modern american online fundraising. all i can say is “hooey.” or “pthbthbthbthbt.” or some other onomatopoeia of your choice.

to begin with, it’s *hard.* a lot of people (me!) don’t like to ask for money. writing just four blog entries pitching the cause was excruciating. also, there is a very vocal group who *really* don’t like to be asked for money, either. (granted i run with a snarky lot, but still …)

imho, the benefit of doing this sort of campaign is the way it can energize an organization’s base, and as a great way to spread it’s message to new people. it’s hard to believe that some day organizations will get the bulk of their funding from a process that is so draining for half the personality-types on the planet.

but all this is water under the bridge … 15 *great* people steped up and give their hard earned moolah to plant trees in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest. hopefully, we’ve helped jump start the Plant a Billion campaign, which has — in just three weeks — raised enough to funds to plant 276,080 trees.

p.s. the “chevy” widget above isn’t actually green-washing (entirely?) … the nature conservancy get $1 to plant a tree each time someone grabs the widget for their web site or social network page. you’d think that would be better highlighted somewhere …

p.p.s. now, i return you to your regularly scheduled blog without substance.

this could be a post about earth day, but wait … it actually IS a post about earth day

evancparker — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 22:22:14 +0000

it’s been a long run up to earth day — work, work, work — so, much like at the wedding, y’all are going to have to make due with the loosely-affiliated ramblings of a distracted man.

(stream of conscious, #1)

happy earth day! speaking of which …

(stream of conscious, #2)

i want to say a very special thank you to those who have donated to support my Plant a Billion Trees campaign so far. speaking of which …

(stream of conscious, #3)

i just realized i have no way of finding out who you are unless you tell me. so, if you donated feel free to toot your own horn in the comments. speaking of which …

(stream of conscious, #4)

easily my favorite comment so far:

aight, aight, I planted some damn trees. ya happy now?

this morning, i was a *weeeeee* bit down because i’m not likely to make my self imposed deadline of 200 trees by earth day, but this comment — and the obviously righteous and noble passion for conservation that pours from each syllable — has inspired me to push on. speaking of which …

(stream of conscious, #5)

great news! I have decided to extend my personal campaign for Plant a Billion Trees through Arbor Day. you obviously wanted more of my great posts on the Atlantic Forest of Brazil, and i obviously don’t want to fail horribly on my first attempt at direct fund raising. speaking of which …

(stream of conscious, #6)

arbor day is this Friday, so you have three more days to help me plant 200 trees. then, it’s a whole lot more snarkiness, and a whole lot less convincing you to support a worthy cause. speaking of which …

(stream of conscious, #7)

I love you guys … :)

This could be a post about Kathleen Edwards @ the Birchmere

evancparker — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 03:57:24 +0000

0414082140.jpg, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

… but, alas, i am still 139 trees short of my goal to plant 200 trees in brazil’s atlantic rainforest by earth day.

so instead, let me show you a little clip about the rainforests of brazil. did you know that they are home to over 1/3rd of brazil’s plant and animal species?

tropical birds, pink and gray river dolphins, manatees, spider monkeys and jaguars all find their home here, alongside brazil’s ancient indigenous communities who have lived in these forests for hundreds of years.

donate $10 to the plant a billion trees campaign, and you can be a part of the solution for brazil *and* for climate change … people like you have raised almost 200,000 trees worth in just the last two weeks!

This could be a post about the Sakura Matsuri Street Festival

evancparker — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 20:36:26 +0000

0412081159.jpg, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

This would normally be a post about the “experience” the lady sparkler and I just had wandering around the Sakura Matsuri Street Festival in downtown D.C.. The place was ripe with bloggable points — including scores of women in those oh-so-authentic-komono-tops you buy at oh-so-japanese stores like Kmart; not to mention 800 lb. boys in anime costumes and 800 lb. girls with green and purple hair in Japanese school girl outfits …

But alas, I haven’t raised enough money to plant 200 trees.

So, instead, let me tell you more about the Atlantic forest of Brazil which is where The Nature Conservancy is working to Plant a Billion trees.

Five hundred years ago, the Atlantic Forest of Brazil covered approximately 330 million acres (about twice the size of Texas), but today more than 93% of this forest has been cleared and what remains is highly fragmented. The remaining 7% of the Atlantic Forest is still among the biologically richest and diverse forests in the world and exhibits a high number of species that can be found nowhere else on Earth.

Help me restore 2.5 million acres of forest in some of the most beautiful and pristine rainforests left on earth. If that isn’t convincing, help me restore this blog to the substance-less place of wit and snarky-ness that you love so much.

earth day 2008: help me plant a billion trees

evancparker — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 14:00:38 +0000

I’m not a big fan of asking people for money (It’s ironic, given my line of work) but this year is a little different, because …

The Nature Conservancy just launched a campaign to Plant a Billion Trees.

This campaign is big — that was billion with a “b” — but replanting tropical forests can have an even bigger effect on climate change.

Together, our trees will remove 10 million tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere every year, which is like taking 2 million cars off the road.

So, here is where you come in:

Donate $10 — I’ve set a goal of raising $200 from the dozen or so people who know this blog exists (click here to donate to my campaign). That’s a mighty big goal from such a modest audience, but I have faith that you guys won’t let me embarrass myself. It’s the cost of two lattes, one movie ticket, half of a parking ticket … heck, you probably have more loose change in your couch.
Plant a Widget — Planting a billion trees is going to take a lot of help, so let your friends know by downloading the Plant a Billion widget. It’s flash, looks wicked cool, and you can drop it painlessly onto your blog, facebook page, or any other place you hang your hat on the web.

If step two is confusing, feel free to just do step one twice. ;)

And, just like NPR, this is all I am going to talk about between now and Earth Day — that’s April 22, 2008 for the uninitiated — so the quicker you we get this over with, the quicker we return to the regular wit and candor you have come to know and love.

I love you guys.