Here are just a few of those benefits categorized by contributions in the Economic, Environmental, and Social spheres and in Energy Conservation. For the full list and detailed resources, click here.

Economic Contributions
• Research shows that shoppers in well-landscaped business districts are willing to pay more for parking and up to 12% more for goods and services.

• Trees reduce runoff and erosion from storms by about 7% and reduce the need for erosion control structures.

• Desk workers with and without views of nature were surveyed. Those without views of nature, when asked about 11 different ailments, claimed 23% more incidence of illness in the prior 6 months.

• Amenity and comfort ratings were about 80% higher for a tree-lined sidewalk compared with those for a non-shaded street.

Energy Conservation
• The net cooling effect of a young, healthy tree is equivalent to 10 room-size air conditioners operating 20 hours a day.

• Trees properly placed around buildings as windbreaks can save up to 25% on winter heating costs.

• As few as 3 trees properly positioned can save an average Illinois household about 6.5% of annual heating and cooling costs, or between $100 and $250.

• Rows of trees reduce windspeed by up to about 85%. Dense rows are most effective. Because even a single row of dense conifers significantly reduce windspeed, windbreaks can be effective on relatively small house lots.

Environmental Contributions
• Leafy tree canopies catch precipitation before it reaches the ground, allowing some of it to gently drip and the rest to evaporate. This lessens the force of storms and reduces runoff and erosion. Research indicates that 100 mature tree crowns intercept about 100,000 gallons of rainfall per year, reducing runoff and providing cleaner water.

• Trees reduce noise pollution by absorbing sounds. A belt of trees 98 feet wide and 49 feet tall can reduce highway noise by 6 to 10 decibels.

• A typical community forest of 10,000 trees will retain approximately 10 million gallons of rainwater per year.

Social Contributions
• Trees in urban parks and recreation areas are estimated to improve outdoor leisure and recreation experiences in the United States by $2 billion per year.

• Trees reduce crime. Apartment buildings with high levels of greenery had 52% fewer crimes than those without any trees. Buildings with medium amounts of greenery had 42% fewer crimes.

• Hospital patients recovering from surgery who had a view of a grove of trees through their windows required fewer pain relievers, experienced fewer complications, and left the hospital sooner than similar patients who had a view of a brick wall.

• Americans travel about 2.3 billion miles per day on urban freeways and highways. Studies show drivers exposed to roadside nature scenes had a greater ability to cope with driving stresses.

For a full list of benefits and the supporting resources, click here.

The Morton Arboretum created Arbor Week (which was April 18-26, 2009) to draw attention to the importance of trees and their role in maintaining the Arboretum’s initiatives to create a greener, healthier world. Arbor Week may be behind us, but you can celebrate trees any time of the year. Discover ways you can make a difference!

Check out some of the comments we collected from Chicago fourth and fifth grade school children on the ”One Tree Makes a Difference” ribbons that were tied to the Triumph elm on Michigan Avenue during Arbor Week. Out of the mouths of babes!

Kid’s Comments: One Tree Makes a Difference . . . because
. . . I have felt really proud to help something grow, and I have helped my community.
. . . Birds build nests and lay their eggs in trees. Squirrels get nuts for trees or they take their nuts and leave them on the tree.
. . . Trees would also give me wood to build a tree house. I can spend my summer there.
. . . Trees also block the sun because when they do, not too much light will be on their face.
. . . it gives life to us.
. . . by giving me leaves to play with in the fall.
. . . by giving me shade on a hot day.
. . . by giving me a good place to play!
. . . It can be home to many different animals that can provide me with something to watch and enjoy.
. . .  because earth needs all the help it can have.
. . . If they chop down my favorite tree I will not be happy because it was my favorite tree. It was like a friend to me.
. . . They do us huge favors and they don’t even know it!
. . . Where would squirrels go and what about the poor little birds that they make their nests in?
. . . it might be a tree that you want to sit under.
. . . One tree can change the world!
. . . if any tree gets cut down the animals that live in it won’t have any home and that will make me feel sad because I’m an animal lover.
. . . lots of animals camouflage with green and brown. If a tree wasn’t there they would be found easily.
. . . One tree can provide oxygen to make the plants healthy and strong and to keep the plants dancing in the wind!
. . . Trees provide oxygen and shade so you’re not stressed.
. . . It helps our community be a better world.
. . . One tree can dance to the music of the oxygen’s fresh air.
. . . trees are amazing to me because they make me so happy to live in this world.
. . . It also gives home to animals which can make us laugh.
. . . When you eat junk food your stomach might hurt, so fruits are important to us.
. . . I even water my tree by my house. That’s how trees should be treated.
. . . By providing the needs we humans need!
. . . it lets us live in a peaceful world.
. . . We wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for the trees. They give us air to breathe.So let’s plant trees to live!
. . . Trees are our future!
. . . A breath of fresh air shows us the difference one tree can make.
. . . Conserve trees because we need the rain forest.
. . . The city looks beautiful with trees.
. . . If you cut down a tree you are leaving animals homeless.
. . . It could let the animals stay at their homes and not move all the time.
. . . Cutting a tree is like demolishing a home!
. . . If you cut down trees you are cutting out a piece of life.
. . . one tree can protect us from a sunny day with its shadow.
. . . when we’re hot the trees give us a little wind, which that breeze feels very good.
. . . there is one tree that reminds me of my old house.
. . . They are serene and gorgeous.
. . . I think that we’re harming everything including ourselves.
. . . each tree is special and each tree has its own reason to be alive.
. . . every tree chopped down kills the world a little bit.
. . . trees are our helpers.
. . . One tree that makes a difference to me is the one in front of my house because it gives me the most oxygen and one day I dream to be on top of it.
. . . to save one tree means to me like saving a life.
. . . trees give shade for picnics.
. . . Trees help make the earth smile good!

Thank you to JEWEL-OSCO, presenting sponsor for Arbor Week 2009. 
 

STOCKHOLM – Scientists have found a cluster of spruces in the mountains in western Sweden which, at an age of 8,000 years, may be the world’s oldest living trees.

The hardy Norway spruces were found perched high on a mountain side where they have remained safe from recent dangers such as logging, but exposed to the harsh weather conditions of the mountain range that separates Norway and Sweden.

Carbon dating of the trees carried out at a laboratory in Miami, FL, showed the oldest of them first set root about 8,000 years ago, making it the world’s oldest known living tree, Umea University Professor Leif Kullman said. California’s “Methuselah” tree, a Great Basin bristlecone pine, is often cited as the world’s oldest living tree with a recorded age of between 4,500 and 5,000 years.

Other spruces, also found in the course of climate change studies in the Swedish county of Dalarna, were shown to be 4,800 and 5,500 years old.

These were the first woods that grew after the Ice Age,” said Lars Hedlund, responsible for environmental surveys in the county of Dalarna and collaborator in climate studies there.

“That means that when you speak of climate change today, you can in these (trees) see pretty much every single climate change that has occurred.”

Although a single tree trunk can become at most about 600 years old, the spruces had survived by pushing out another trunk as soon as the old one died, Professor Kullman said. Rising temperatures in the area in recent years had allowed the spruces to grow rapidly, making them easier to find in the rugged terrain, he added.

“For quite some time they have endured as bushes maybe 1/2 meter tall,” he said.

“But over the past few decades we have seen a much warmer climate, which has meant that they have popped up like mushrooms in the soil.”

by Niklas Pollard, Reuters. Copyright 2008 Reuters. April 11, 2008