DANIELLE OLIVER
Staff Writer
Crisp, fresh air. Colossal homes framed and trimmed with wood. Orchards of delicious plums and peaches. What would the world be like without trees? So much of human existence depends on the air for breathing and food for eating.
It is so easy with the fast pace of American society, to never stop and really appreciate the value of trees, but a certain group of people has made it a priority to value and protect these treasures and the environment in which they thrive. Pepperdine has been involved for at least two years with the TreePeople organization.
TreePeople are not, as some may think, crazed extremists who would die before leaving the foot of a tree.
“We are not the people who live in trees,” said Lisette Fernandez, Public Relations associate for TreePeople. “We are not an activist-based organization. Nothing we do is controversial; we are happy people.”
TreePeople is an organization that has dedicated itself and its many volunteers to helping solve many environmental problems in Southern California as the population and industry expands.
“It’s not just trees,” Fernandez said. “We’re trying to make a move towards a sustainable and ‘greener’ society.”
Sustainable can best be seen in the TreePeople’s new conference center that used recycled denim for insulation and has a 25-gallon cistern to collect rainwater for reuse.
As a non-profit organization, TreePeople receives money through its memberships and many activities such as “An Evening Under A Harvest Moon,” an annual event often hosted by celebrities. Merchandise is also sold at TreePeople’s headquarters in Beverly Hills along with different educational texts and information.
In 1950, Andy Lipkis, the founder of the organization, was at teen camp when he decided to rile up his fellow camper in an effort to replace an existing parking lot with a living meadow. Later, in 1973, he said, “I’ve gone to the government. I’ve gone to big business. Now I’m taking my project to the people.”
This statement helps in defining the term TreePeople, as volunteers who have taken these environmental issues into their own hands.
TreePeople’s mission is to “inspire the people of Los Angeles to take personal responsibility for the urban forest — educating, training and supporting them as they plant and care for trees and improve the neighborhoods in which they live, learn, work and play.”
In order to accomplish this goal, TreePeople have set up projects about the Los Angeles area. This is the 21st year for planting fruit tress. This program has distributed approximately 60,000 tree to low-income neighborhoods, churches and school, so they can enjoy fresh fruit year round.
“We’ve even airlifted trees to Africa,” Fernandez said.
Since the fires in 2003, the California Wildfire Recovery Project has a goal to plant one million trees in Southern California. Volunteers involved in TreePeople’s Tree Care project contribute by picking up trash, pruning, weeding and watering trees when needed. Most recently, due to the torrential downpours in Southern California this month, TreePeople has begun work on a $100-million project to catch storm water and not let it go to waste. Along with this, educational projects exist to help children and the Los Angeles Community learn about caring for the environment.
Along with educating students, TreePeople members said they are always eager for any involvement. Students from campuses all over the Los Angeles area have taken initiative in helping in the process. Diana Rozendaal, the co-coordinator for Environmental Programs for the PVC at Pepperdine, has participated with students in TreePeople events.
This year she and 15 Pepperdine students planted live Oak in Solstice Canyon for a day.
“We were joined by volunteers from UCLA and other high school and colleges in the area,” said Rozendaal. “We learned about the importance of tress in the area and how to plant them effectively so that they live long lives. It’s very fulfilling and lots of fun.”
One volunteer, Lauren Edwards, was one of eight Delta Gammas from Pepperdine who helped out.
“The TreePeople leaders taught us how to dig the holes and plant the trees. We broke up into groups of three,” she said. “It was tiring; I wasn’t expecting that, but we really bonded with our groups.”
All together the even lasted about four to five hours and about 100 to 200 trees were securely planted.
“We built a barricade around each tree, watered them and planted a special kind of grass,” Edwards said. “We learned that trees are really sensitive.”
Aside from the manual work, volunteers had a great time.
“It was really fun,” Edwards said. “After the planting, there was a barbecue for all the workers.”
Programs are always up and running, and involvement is always appreciated. The learn more go to www.pepperdine.edu/volunteercenter or www.treepeople.org.
02-17-2005
