I received a new tree in front of my house in Queen Village at the end of April.  There had been a tree there for years, but it died and right around Hurricane Sandy, it was taken down by the city because it was about to be a safety hazard.  I applied for a new tree with the program provided by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society.  That process took a few years but finally, on April 26, 2014 my new tree was planted!  Every time I look at it I smile.  Besides the smile that the tree puts on my face everyday, trees provide us with lots of other benefits.

• Trees provide us with oxygen (a mature tree can provide us with enough oxygen for 10 people)
• Trees help stop noise pollution (trees can muffle some of the urban noise we hear such as highway traffic)
• Trees clean the soil (trees can absorb dangerous chemicals and either store them or actually change them to less harmful forms)
• Trees can help with storm water runoff  (some trees can absorb up to 1000 gallons of water, keeping water out of streams an rivers during big rainstorms)
• Trees keep us in the shade and cool (when placed strategically, we can use less energy to cool our homes)
• Trees bring in higher resale value for our homes (How many times have you heard a street being described as a “tree lined street”?  Streets with trees appear safer and can increase your resale value by 15%).
• Trees fight soil erosion. (The roots of the trees hold the soil in place)

The trees around us are extremely important for improving our lives.  To find out about getting a free tree planted in front of your house in Philadelphia you can contact one of these agencies: http://treephilly.org/ http://phsonline.org/greening/plant-one-million   Thanks to Tobin Seletsky for helping me to get my tree.  Photo by Tobin Seletsky