Saving Our Planet One Tree at a Time
As part of the celebration for Earth Day on Saturday, April 22, organizers are encouraging people to plant a tree as part of the Trees for Earth Campaign. The Earth Day Network hopes to inspire environmentally-conscious people to plant 7.8 billion trees by the year 2020— one for every person in the world.
So What’s the Big Deal about Trees?
Trees are the single greatest asset available for battling air pollution on our planet. No other process cleans air as effectively as a tree. That fact alone should make protecting and repopulating forests an environmental priority.
- The more trees on our planet, the cleaner our air becomes. Trees literally scrub our air, inhaling carbon dioxide from polluted air and exhaling life-sustaining oxygen into the atmosphere. One acre of forest purifies enough air annually to support 18 people for a year.
- One tree absorbs 40 pounds of carbon dioxide per year. A single acre of mature trees takes in the same amount of carbon dioxide spewed out by driving a car 26,000 miles.
- U.S. forests alone suck up 1.5 trillion pounds of carbon dioxide annually. Trees also diminish other air pollutants like ammonia, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, ozone, and peroxyacetylnitrate.
- Tree leaves trap harmful substances like ash, dirt, pollen, and smoke particles on their surfaces, removing them from the air. Leaves also generate evaporation, gently cooling surrounding air.
The Consequences of Deforestation
- Global deforestation compromises the quality of the air we breathe. According to World Wildlife, up to 58,000 square miles of forest are harvested worldwide each year— equivalent to 48 football field-sized forests annihilated every minute! Experts estimate deforestation accounts for15% of all greenhouse gases.
- Clear-cutting leaves the landscape bare and vulnerable to soil erosion. Deforestation changes an area’s biodiversity, contributing to destructive climate changes.
- Urban sprawl scalps the land of trees, too. Urban trees help purify the atmosphere and weaken the roasting heat of an urban heat island, which raises temperatures by 8° to 10° Fahrenheit higher than nearby tree-covered areas. Hotter temperatures bring increased energy usage for cooling homes and business, wasting even more resources.
- Strategically placed trees providing shade for buildings and air conditioners, drop cooling costs 2% to 10% per year. Forest Service researchers in California discovered trees in parking lots cooled surrounding air temperatures 3° Fahrenheit. The lower the energy consumed, the lower the greenhouse gases emitted from power plants, further enhancing air quality.
- Tree foliage in urban areas also helps block the noise common a busy, bustling city.
- A tree-studded property surrounded by a neighborhood of plentiful trees increases property value by 15%.
- Research shows that a patient with a view of trees outside the windows actually heals faster— and with fewer complications!
Steel Buildings Save Trees
Building with steel instead of wood saves trees. The more we build with steel, the fewer trees we sacrifice for lumber. The more trees left alive to clean the atmosphere, the easier we all breathe.
However, that is just one of the many reasons pre-engineered steel buildings are the best environmental choice for construction.
- Steel is 100% recyclable— and the most recycled substance on Earth. It never loses any strength when recycled; steel recycled 100 times is still as strong as it was when originally produced.
- Every ton of steel recycled saves 2,500 pounds of iron ore, 1,400 pounds of coal, and 120 pounds of limestone— and 10,900,000 Btu’s of energy.
- Harvesting five acres of forest means an additional 1 to 1.5 tons of air pollutants left in the atmosphere.
- Choosing to build with steel instead of wood is also the logical long-term choice. Steel buildings outlast wood structures by decades.
- Construction and demolition dumps 136 million tons of wood, cement, and debris into over-crowded U.S. landfills each year. But when a steel building reaches the end of its long lifespan, the steel framing sells as scrap to be recycled once again.
Be a Part of the Solution to Pollution
Join the Green Movement and the Earth Day initiative and do your part to protect our air and environment. Support the Earth Day Canopy Project initiative by planting one or more trees each year. And when you build, choose green pre-engineered steel buildings.
RHINO Steel Buildings’ commercial-grade metal buildings contain a high level of recycled steel. Our Pro-Value insulation system cuts heating and cooling costs by 50%. Reflective cool-coated roof panels from RHINO slash cooling costs as much as 15% more in hot climates.
It is no wonder that environmental-conscious— and cost-conscious— people depend on RHINO for all their low-rise building projects.
Discover more about building green with RHINO. Call one of our metal building specialists today. Contact us today at 940.383.9566. You will find RHINO offers the BEST DEAL in STEEL for your budget and for our planet.