The More, The Merrier

Today, I planted trees with the organization Friends of Trees. We went around to several Southeast neighborhoods and planted pre-approved trees in designated planting areas. We thought it would be fun to just get out there, feel earthy, get our hands dirty, and help plant a few trees. What we walked away with was the feeling of making a difference on not only a community level, but on an individual level.

It was great; we learned how to shape the earth around the roots of the trees, how to take into account the position of the branches and how they will grow into the street or sidewalk, how to pack the earth so it is stable and healthy, and how to tie up the tree to help it grow tall and straight. The people with us were full of tree appreciation. Overwhelming us with incredibly friendly energy, they took time out of their day to plant trees around some houses. I was so impressed with their commitment, but I wanted to further understand why they have decided to take this time out of their lives to plant a few trees around some random neighborhoods.

Lisa, our crew leader, said that she believed that even though it seems like just a few trees, the difference that each tree makes goes further than we can see. Each tree brings shade to the ground, a living space for critters, the chance for roots to spread. They bring oxygen to our air, they are aesthetically pleasing, and they are non-invasive, meaning they are beneficial to our ecosystem in the Pacific Northwest. By planting one tree, we are improving the overall neighborhood, and it only takes two hands.

When we look at making a difference in the sense of social or environmental movements, we tend to see them in the framework that a leader is necessary to make the changes or inspire the people. This perhaps is true in a way -- the inspiration and organization has to come from somewhere. However, we must not forget about the people who follow, the support behind the leader, and the individuals who have dedicated their lives to make the world a better place.

In reading about the slave abolition movement, we read excerpts on how it was a small group of people to initially inspire the public to make the changes, but after time, it was the people in the greater community who went against their own government, and their own economy, to try and end the horrific use of humans as forced labor. The men who started this movement were ordinary men who simply believed that humans should have a right to be free. They met, empowered the communities around them, and after several years managed to abolish slavery. As Adam Hochschild says in "Bury the Chains," "the antislavery movement had achieved its goal in little more than one lifetime" (3). While we can look at this movement as the first successful human rights movement in our history, it is important to realize that the people organizing it were simple global citizens like many of us.

We can look back on their success today as an example of what is possible, especially when we are feeling as if change in the world is against our power. The men behind this movement were undoubtedly discouraged at times, but, as Hochschild says, "their passion and optimism are still contagious and still relevant to our times, when, in so many parts of the world, equal rights for all men and women seem far distant" (5).

These men "not only helped to end one of the worst of human injustices in the most powerful empire of its time; they also forged virtually every important tool used by citizens' movements in democratic countries today" (6). We are capable of making these changes, just like these men did, especially now that we have their example to follow and their tools to use. By planting trees today, I felt helpful by bringing life to places that lacked it. The trees will benefit the people in those communities and each tree planted is a better step to an environmentally sound planet. We can make differences too; we don't need a leader to help us stand up.

"'Never doubt,' said Margaret Mead, 'that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has'" (7).